Waiting on some Beautiful Boy
by Rolly Polly Dolly
Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?
1. Prologue

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy

Wheeew, first attempt at publishing something on Fan Fiction. I've been making up this story in my head for over 13 months now, and I just had to let it out. I conveniently decided to let it out right in the middle of my HSC half yearly (high school exams for year 12), so please don't hate me. Tell me what you think, even if it's abuse. Thank you.

Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?

Prologue

1917 Chicago

EPOV

Surely, this was hell, no purgatory, the bane of my existence, one of my mother's social gatherings. Every so often, once a month at least, my father and I would be forced into a tuxedo and threatened with violence if fake smiles were not plastered onto our faces, ready to greet and charm our many guests.

My mother got her handkerchief and rubbed at the non-existent dirt on my cheek, as she explained to me how apparently this social event was special. A new family had moved to the neighborhood, and my mother wanted to welcome them into our society. No better way of saying welcome to the neighborhood than hosting a large charity event to shove the wealth of the community down their throats.

The Swans had recently moved from Phoenix Arizona and were bringing their teenage daughter (I didn't miss the glance laden with meaning my mother sent at me as she recounted this information) to live here in Chicago.

After my mother finished appraising my appearance she left out the door to double check the food courses that would be served for dinner. With only half and hour before the guests started to arrive, I went to my piano to practice the pieces I would play later on tonight. My mother enjoyed showing off my talents and requested that I play several pieces tonight, assumably to impress the Swan's daughter. My mother was consistently placing young eligible women under my nose, parading them around as one would a smorgasbord.

I simply was not interested, playing my piano for my own enjoyment and my ambition to join the war were decidedly more meaningful than finding a partner to court and marry.

I finished practicing the pieces but couldn't bring myself to leave the piano. For months now I had been having trouble composing my own music. Normally inspiration would come to me with ease, the desire was there to make music, but I couldn't bring myself to actually start a song. I tried a small melody that had been running through my head, but on the piano it didn't sound quite right. I shut the piano lid and made my way downstairs, ready to face the hoards of stuck up snobs that attended these social get togethers for charity.

As the guests began to arrive my family took their positions at the door welcoming the guests individually as they gave their coats to our domestic help. The usual faces and names blurred together as the front parlor room filled up with people. My father was just showing in the Clarks when my mother squeezed my hand hanging by my side, which she only did when she wanted me to be especially charming.

I was presented with the sight of a middle-aged couple still youthful in their appearance, the lady was greeting my mother with air kisses to each cheek and my father firmly shook hands with the gentleman. I searched my memories of past occasions but couldn't recall ever having met this couple before so I surmised that this must be the Swans.

The gentleman whom I presumed was Charlie Swan spoke for the first time. "And this is our daughter, Isabella."

I turned my gaze to the third figure I had missed in my initial scrutiny of the family, the young woman lingered on the doorstep slightly obscured by her mother, giving off the impression of someone who had been forced to attend a funeral of a distant relative of whom she had disliked immensely. As the lady who I took to be Renee Swan stepped back from my mother, my breath caught in my throat and my heart quickened in my chest at the sight of this blushing beauty.

My mother moved forward to greet her and I hastily welcomed her parents, anxious to get another glimpse of this captivating girl.

I couldn't help but stare at this magnificent creature, her long mahogany hair was swept up into a bun placed on the top of her head, kept in place by little diamond clips. Long lashes swept along her cheeks as she gazed down at the floor, not meeting my eyes as she dipped her head and presented her delicate pale hand, covered in ivory gloves to match her dress, for me to shake. Instead I grasped it lightly in my own and brought it to my mouth as I brushed my lips across her skin with the softest pressure, as if she would break like a fragile piece of glass.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss. Swan, I'm Edward Mason."


	2. Chapter 1

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 1

Wow! I want to thank all of the really great people who reviewed and added my story to their story alert, I can't actually describe how happy it made me to see such positive feedback for my first story. Thank you so much!

Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?

Disclaimer: I own nothing, SM created the characters and everything else I just… play with them. That sounded better in my head.

1917 Chicago

BPOV

This was it, the ultimate challenge, the battle of wills. I would succeed, I would fight temptation and win. And it wasn't working.

My leg was itchy, I would give an arm and the darn leg too, to scratch it. But I was well aware of the spectacle I would make if I lifted up my ivory dress right in the middle of the Masons driveway to scratch my now prickling thigh. They would probably think I was deranged along with my poor parents, what an excellent debut into society we would make.

No I would persevere and make it up the driveway, be introduced to the hosts, mingle with my parents for a time, before quietly excusing myself to the restrooms and rid myself of this infernal itching. I couldn't dwell on my leg problem I had more important things to concentrate on.

_Just one foot in front of the other Bella_. I told myself as I looked down at my feet enclosed in a pair of truly dangerous high heels. _We just have to make it up the steps. _My parents talked together quietly, commenting on the splendor of the Mason's house as we joined the small queue waiting to be greeted by the hosts and let into the party.

I admired the faces of a middle-aged couple that I took to be the hosts, both had attractive features arranged in welcoming demeanours and I moved onto the last figure standing in the doorway.

He was stunning, he was shaking the hand of another man, laughing at something being said. Immediately my itchy leg simply vanished, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if my entire body had vanished either. I was just lost, my mind turned into a puddle of mush, incapable of coherent thought.

Beautiful people like him just didn't exist. I shook my head to clear the image of his perfection. I attempted to pinpoint my attraction for this young man, his sharp jaw line was the first thing I noticed about his appearance, followed by his strange bronze coloured hair which shifted in the slight breeze and complemented his pale complexion. It wasn't just one aspect of his face that I admired, it was his entire appearance.

I had never really been attracted to a man before but I knew instantly that I would never find a more perfect specimen than the one I saw before me. I was instantly filled with a sadness that was easily interpreted, such a God would not see me as an object of desire. I had had some hopeful suitors back in Phoenix, all nice in their own way but had clashed with my personality on some level or another, but there was no chance this man would ever consider me suitable in all my plainness, he was in a whole other league.

As the family before us was shown in and had their coats taken, I returned my gaze to my feet, not wanting to make eye contact with the beautiful boy who must be a part of the Mason family.

"And this is our daughter, Isabella."

I hated it when my father introduced me by my full name, Isabella sounded so formal, how I wished I could be anywhere else at this moment, safe at home in my library surrounded by my familiar books. Mrs Mason finished greeting my mother and turned to receive me with open arms and a peck on the cheek.

Oh Lord, I would have to greet him now. I could feel the blush on my face as I offered my hand for him to shake, willing myself not to look at the perfection of his face. But instead of shaking my hand, I could feel it being lifted in the air as the handsome young man bent his head to press his lips to the back of my gloved hand with the softest pressure. As his lips connected with my hand a jolt of electricity shot up my arm undeterred by the glove, and more blood rushed to my face.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss. Swan, I'm Edward Mason." At the sound of his name I looked up and was met with the sight of the greenest pair of eyes I had ever seen. I could only stare back, trapped by his hypnotic gaze, unable to move from my position in front of him.

A small nudge to my side from my father brought me back from my stupor and I gave Edward, _it thrilled me just to put a name to the God_, a quick smile and a small nod of my head, before his father clasped my hand in his own and beckoned me inside and to enjoy the party.

I stumbled into the front room after my parents as I passed my coat to a waiting servant and tried to regain my breath, feeling as though I had run a mile. My mother had a knowing smile as she took my hand in the crook of her arm, my father on her other side and led us into the large parlour already filled with people.

I was immediately uncomfortable, I despised social gatherings such as these and I knew that this particular event was to welcome our arrival. The last thing I wanted was to have any attention drawn to me. I much preferred to blend in with the crowd, a feat that proved only too easy chiefly thanks to my average looks.

My mother squeezed my hand in reassurance, she could read me like a book, and knew well enough how ill at ease I was in these situations. She steered us over to a couple of elderly women laughing together, thankfully starting out small, attempting to ease me into the social light.

Introductions were made and I quickly lost interest in the trivial gossip they were engaging in. Back home in Arizona I had never been one for tradition, while girls my age discussed balls and boys in loud whispers to each other, I was much more at home tucked away in some private corner reading one of the many books which could be found in our extensive library. I found it a difficult task to behave cordially to these frivolous girls whom I could relate to on no subjects except the weather.

After being led around by my parents and introduced to what must have been dozens of people, we approached a smaller party of guests who gave off the air of royalty, this crowd was clearly the elite of society, and were the type who lorded their wealth over others. The stopped their conversation as we drew closer and all turned to face us, I was given the impression of a wall of people, obscuring us from their elite society, reinforced by their patronizing smiles and amused expressions as my father introduced us to a tall woman who seemed to be the most appropriate person to address.

"How do you do Mr. Swan, I am Georgia Howard, and Mrs. Swan what a charming dress you have on. I believe I had a similar one years ago, but we threw it out with all the other outdated clothing, I was very fond of it."

This woman was grating on my nerves, it was clear that she cared more for material possessions rather than actual people. "And this is my daughter Margaret." I estimated that the girl was roughly around my own age. But that was where our similarities ended. Margaret was stunningly beautiful, and she seemed to know it. Her family just oozed with old money, and she held herself with a grace I wouldn't have been able to achieve on my best day.

Margaret smiled prettily at my parents, "How do you do?"

Just then something caught her eye, and her face increased in its beauty as she smiled and gestured for someone to join her.

"Edward! How are you? It seems like I haven't seen you in ages, what have you been doing?"

I turned to see Edward Mason looking at me, before readjusting his gaze towards Margaret, I looked down at my feet blushing.

"It hasn't been all that long since I last saw you Miss Howard, and I've been keeping myself amused with my music as of late." A musician, I had always thought playing an instrument was a romantic notion, and before I could stop myself I blurted out, "Oh what instrument do you play? I've always wanted to learn to play something, but I've found that the piano is much too bothersome to me to conquer."

I could feel the blood rush to my face as soon as the words were out, and could see Margaret Howard stifle a giggle into the back of her hand. Immediately I knew what instrument this God would play, there simply wasn't any justice in the world.

"Well Miss Swan, I'm sure if you persevered with the piano, you will find that there is no greater pleasure then letting your soul flow through the music, if you wish I could tutor you to become a better musician." I was unable to answer, my embarrassment too great. I offered him a small smile when I found he was looking intently at my face.

Just as I looked down at the floor willing it to swallow me up and spare me from my humiliation I was saved by the dinner bell. People began gliding towards another room, which I presumed was the dining area. I kept my head down as I followed my parents, maybe it would have been better if I had scratched my leg on the lawn, just get the embarrassment over with, instead of this prolonging torture I knew would ensure if I was anywhere near Margaret or Edward.

As luck would have it Margaret was placed directly opposite me with Edward on her left hand side, apparently Mrs. Mason had thought it would be an excellent idea to place all of the younger adults together. Somehow I had managed to elude introducing myself to the boy sitting next to me during my obligatory rounds of the parlour. He held out his slightly sweaty hand for me to take and I took it lightly in my own as he announced through a mouthful of chewed food that his name was Walter Wharton.

Halfway through the first course I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I looked up to find Edwards eyes staring back into mine. Before I could look back down at my food, Margaret addressed me.

"So Isabella I hear that Arizona has perfectly awful weather, hot all year round. We much prefer this climate here in Chicago, don't we Edward?" I didn't miss the emphasis on the word we, I should have known that someone as gorgeous as Edward would already have found someone as equally beautiful to spend their time with.

"Arizona does have hot weather, but I believe you become accustomed to any climate as long as one spends enough time there." I tried not to sound as though I was arguing with Margaret, the last thing I needed was for the elite of society here to hate me, my family was trying to fit in, not stand out.

"Actually I've always wanted to visit Phoenix Bella, tell me, what did you do there?"

My eyes snapped upwards as I looked at Edward who had just asked me something. His wide green eyes were boring into mine, like he could draw the answers out of my head with his penetrating stare. Oh an answer, I should answer him.

"Hm? Oh, I spent most of my time reading when I wasn't learning, I don't really care for parties or balls." I looked back down at my plate, I didn't need to see his reaction to know that he would find my activities a bore.

"What sort of books do you like to read? I myself don't read as much as I'd like to, but maybe you could recommend something to me, I promise that I'll read it." I couldn't understand, did he mean it, or was he just being polite? He seemed sincere in his questions but I could not fathom his interest.

"Well, I'm afraid I don't really know you well enough to know what you might enjoy Edward, I myself am a fan of Jane Austin's works, along with the Bronte sisters and other novels of that time period." I replied biting my lip while checking through my eyelashes that he wasn't offended by my deflection of his request.

Margaret then had realised that the conversation was not revolved around her and decided to bring Edward's attention back to herself.

"Yes well, I can find books to be dreadfully boring sometimes, tell me Edward what do you think of my new broach?" She gestured to her chest where indeed a large broach had been placed just below the dip of her dress, emphasising her cleavage.

I didn't bother to listen to his reply, not wanting to hear how in love the young couple was. Dinner passed in a blur after that, and I only spoke when I was addressed directly.

Soon the party had adjourned to the ball room and I found myself amongst a group of girls my age all discussing someone's rushed engagement and speculating whether or not she was pregnant. This was a disaster, why couldn't I find just one sane person who had better things to do the gossip spitefully over other people's happiness?

The sound of someone's throat being cleared brought me out of my internal whining.

"Would you do me the honour of a dance Bella?" I turned to find Edward behind me, his head inclined towards the dance floor. The girls around me fell silent as they waited for my reply. Dancing, no. I thought I might have to endure that particular form of torture at some point this evening but to inflict my ungainly coordination skills on Edward was surely a crime.

"I don't think Miss Howard would be very pleased if I did Edward." I tried deflecting his request by bringing up his beau.

Edward looked confused by my statement. "Miss Howard? Oh you mean Margaret, well um, Margaret is different, she likes to think that she has a claim on all the young men in the vicinity. I assure you, I am not the least bit involved with Miss Howard, nor anybody for that matter." Edward wasn't involved with Margaret, he didn't want to court her, my heart swelled at this news although I knew this did not make him any more available to me and all my plainness. Still I would have to defer him with the truth of my almost disability.

"Oh, well I would, but you must understand I'm terribly uncoordinated and just plain clumsy, I don't think you feet would thank me for the dance later on."

"Please Bella, let me worry about my feet, besides it's all in the leading, I promise not to let you harm anyone, or yourself." He extended his hand towards mine and the look on his face was close to one of begging along with his persuasive tone, I let myself be lead out onto the dance floor surrounded by twirling couples.

I could feel the eyes of the other guests on me, but as I placed my hand in Edwards and he brought right hand to my waist I lost track of where I was, who was watching and anything else that was not Edward. He was standing close enough for me to smell him, and I was instantly reminded of home, not Arizona, but the comforting scents of new books, lilac and cherry blossoms. _What an enticing smell, I wonder if he uses cologne._ I hadn't been this close to his face before I was given the opportunity to study it more carefully, Edward met my gaze and a sort of electricity flowed between us as we stared into each other's eyes, leaving me tingling in all the places his body made contact with mine.

I could not find one flaw in his dazzling features but I was sure his dancing experience was not as enjoyable as mine, my face was nothing special to look at and I had trod on his feet at least four times so far.

"I have to say Isabella, I think you look absolutely stunning tonight, I can't seem to take my eyes off of you." Edward said as he twirled me round.

"Please, call me Bella, Isabella makes me feel like an old woman, and you look very dashing yourself tonight." I blushed as I replied, while I told myself that he was just being polite, that he couldn't really mean he thought I was stunning.

"Tell me more about Arizona, I'm sure you miss your home, its rather different here, I imagine." It was funny, he really seemed as though he wanted to know more about my life.

"Well I had a few good friends there, and we would often go to the beach, there was always wonderful weather for swimming so the water wasn't too cold.

"Listen, I wanted to apologise for earlier, when you were telling Margaret about your music, I didn't mean to offend you, or the piano, it was more through my incompetence and lack of talent at recognising notes that I failed at the piano, not the instrument itself." I tried to explain myself, wanting him to know that I was sorry for my outburst.

"There's no need to apologise Bella, I myself quit three times before I decided to stick with my playing. My offer still stands if you would like for me to teach you how to play, although I am no expert myself."

Our conversation flowed after this and I found myself lost in his words, his expressions when asked different questions, his quick and humorous replies and his never ending questions about me, for which he really seemed to crave answers and most of all, his crooked smile which was fast becoming my favourite smile in all the world

I started suddenly when I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned to find my father among one of the few people left in the room, where had everybody gone? I had been so wrapped up in the bubble that Edward's presence had created, that I had failed to notice that the party was ending. Had we really been dancing that long? Only now I could feel my feet were aching.

"Come on Bella, it's time for us to leave now, a pleasure Mr. Mason." My father nodded to Edward, and he walked away to my mother, giving Edward and I a moment alone before I had to leave.

"Thankyou for the dance and the conversation Miss Swan, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with you. I hope to see you again soon." Edward picked up my hand from my side where it had fallen from his shoulder and placed a soft kiss on the back of it.

I couldn't reply, too shocked from the electricity, his words and by Edward himself. Once again all I had to offer him was a smile and a nod of my head, before I walked to my parents who were collecting their coats at the front room.

I stumbled through a goodbye and a thankyou for having me to Mr. And Mrs. Mason, and barely registered my mother's chattering or getting into the car. My mind was still with Edward, still locked in his gorgeous green eyes and his crooked smile.

I rested my head on my mother's shoulder as we exited the Mason's driveway and drove to our new address in this new city, which suddenly seemed much less bland than my first impression. My feet ached and the itch in my leg had returned, but I couldn't find it within me to be bothered or worried, I had just met the man of my dreams.

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 2

Thanks for the feedback really it made me so happy. I meant to update earlier but I was busy with family stuff I won't bore you with. I will try to update at least once a week. Song that goes with this chapter is My Immortal by Evanescence.

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Present Day Forks, Washington.

BPOV

So this was Forks. I had to admit it was an ideal location, slim chances of sun exposure, small population, good hunting grounds, what more could I ask for? _Home._ The thought sprang unbidden in my mind.

My cold dead heart yearned for my city, for the towering buildings, the ever changing culture, the fashion and the people. Granted I didn't interact with the people of Chicago, but I found it an amusing pastime to watch them go about their hectic short lives. None of them appreciated what they had, taking for granted the simplest pleasures that life could offer them.

But most of all I would miss the comforting presence of the small piece of land, which had served not only my home and shelter, but as the one remaining link to my past life. I found it hard to tear myself away from the crumbling cottage, even for the smallest period of time. Hunting, attending schools, sometimes colleges and working various jobs forced me away from my little safe haven.

The cottage had remained in the same condition in which it was bought so many decades ago. I found myself incapable of performing any type of alteration, I couldn't bear to do anything other than maintain it's original splendor. I went without modern appliances and all the other comforts that could be found in this new upbeat world, preferring to lock myself away in a previous era of simpler, happier times.

But I needed a new start, a new home, a new life. Over half a century had passed since my life had ended, and it was time for me to move on, never in my heart, that would always be lost. But onto a new place, to start new memories, and to make the best of this world I was bound to. Yes, Forks was perfect for me. I was enrolled at the local high school as a senior, and then I would attend a college somewhere in the local area.

I stared at the large three-stroy house before me, it was out of the way, surrounded by the forests of Forks. It was far away enough from town to discourage any friendly well wishers from dropping by to welcome me to town.

The real estate agent had been eager to sell the house, something about previous tenants still haunting the place. I had smirked to myself while listening to the woman's rushed explanation over the phone, for the low price. I doubted that any person who had lived in this house before me could frighten me, I had seen more than any one person should ever have to see.

The house was fully furnished and equipped with modern day technology, not that I would be using the stainless steel stove or the brand new oven. But they were useful props for when I needed to continue my human façade. The entire of the south facing walls had been replaced with glass, giving the house a light and open feeling. This had been one of the deciding factors for buying this house. After spending so long hidden away from the world, this freedom to bask in the occasional sunlight without fear of detection was most welcome.

I inhaled, sure I was safe from any humans potent scent, most of my kind preferred to breathe as one would as a human. But due to my different lifestyle I found it easier when surrounded by their blood to simply hold my breath. The oxygen wasn't needed in my body anymore but it brought to me now a sense of familiarity. My breath caught the mix of the forest, petrol from the car in which I'd driven here and…

Danger! The desire to fight or flee was so strong in my mind, it took a second for me to process, what the danger was. That smell, vampires. The house reeked of the sweet smell. What were vampires doing here, in Forks? _Huh, probably the same thing you're doing._

It wasn't safe here, I had to leave, I needed to reassess the situation. Taking another breath to taste the air and listening with my keen ears, I could determine that the house was empty, no movement, but this scent was only hours old. Whoever had been here would return, and there wasn't just one. I couldn't pinpoint exactly how many of them there were, but I could distinguish at least five different scents.

With no indication of whether or not this coven was friendly I would play it by ear, and would not provoke such a large number of vampires. It would have been smarter to completely leave town, put the house, which was suddenly not so unoccupied, back on the market, and find some other town to start over. But I had always been curious as a human, always wanting to expand my knowledge in one way or another, and I had brought that trait into the next life. Who were these vampires that could live in a permanent situation? I had thought, based on my previous run-ins with my kind, that they preferred to be nomads, always moving on, never staying in one place for too long, least they draw attention to themselves.

I would stay in Forks and observe this coven, I would remain hidden and learn the secret of their success. Besides, it would be nice to have some friends, after my long solitude, someone who might have be able to relate to me in some way. I would have to wait and see.

Sorry it's only a short chapter but it's just an introduction into Bella's vampire life. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed or read my story, it means more to me than words will ever be able to describe. If you would like a sneak peak of the next chapter, let me know in a review.


	4. Chapter 3

Waiting on Some Beautiful Boy Chapter 3

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Sorry this took forever to come out, I'll do better next time.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Present Day Forks, Washington.

BPOV

Erasing one's scent was a useful ability that came in handy when I wanted to make a quick getaway, or to snoop. Or as I was doing now, watching and remaining undetected, pretty much snooping actually. I had been sitting in this tree for three hours now, I had carefully chosen this particular tree to give me an excellent view of all approachable entrances to the clearing. The occupants of MY house hadn't returned, but I could be very patient when I wanted to be.

I ran over the options that I had devised in my head. Option one, if it was an unfriendly coven that I would have no chance of standing up to, and thus I would run.

Option two, if the coven appeared to be friendly and non-threatening, I would observe them some more until I was able to confront them.

Option three, I get out of this tree, let myself into the house and casually wait for them to return.

My options seemed flimsy, even to me. Bored with waiting, I let my mind wander, planning out my story for the school's registration forms and for curious students who I would be unable to deter, that is, if I was staying. Should I be the only child of Larry and Carol Swan who were always busy with their work and rarely in town? Yes that particular story went down well with all of the previous schools I had attended. It was a rare occasion when the school required both the parent and the child together, I made sure my outward behavior was exemplary, and most found little reason to bring my supposed parents in for questioning. It wasn't a problem for me to assume the role of either parents, my abilities allowed me to take on even the most difficult of disguises.

I lost myself in planning out the minute details of my facade, even though I had improved in my lying abilities, it was always a good idea to have a prepared story. Humans were predictable, their minds seemed to run on one track, their questions were usually easy to anticipate, but every so often one of them would surprise me with their rare insightfulness.

It was another hour before I heard movement in the surrounding forest. My sensitive ears could pinpoint the exact location of where they would enter the clearing in which the house and I were situated. I picked up the sound of booming laughter, which resonated throughout the entire area, and softer than that, was the footsteps of six vampires, speeding through the forest on their light feet. The basic human instinct of fight or flight, was not something I had forgotten, and even though it would have made more sense for me to abandon the house, to leave these vampires alone, my instincts were telling me to stay, and over these long years I had come to trust my intuition, it had never led me astray.

I concentrated closely now on the approaching footsteps, soon they would come into my line of view, and I would be able to assess them clearly.

One of them began to speak, female I presumed by the high pitch frequency in which she spoke.

"I don't understand Alice, what do you mean the house has been bought?"

Oh so they do know that someone else is going to be living there, maybe now they would move on. The question was followed by a snort from another individual, this one a male.

"Exactly what she said, Rosalie, somebody else bought the house before we could make an offer."

My sharp eyes searched the area in which they would be passing in mere seconds.

"Ugh, what I meant _Jasper, _was howAlice didn't see this coming. I thought you were watching out for any other people who were considering buying the property."

This Rosalie was annoyed now, I could tell by the way she defended herself that she was easy to anger. Not a positive sign for me, I wasn't here to start a fight and she was already aggravated.

It was a new voice that spoke next, the female I could only presume to be Alice. My eyes zeroed in on two figures holding hands as they moved through the trees with agility only vampires could possess. The female black haired vampire was so short, that the male towered over her and I immediately focused my attention on him, he seemed to be the main threat. The male's honey blonde hair standing out against the green of the forest, but suddenly my unneeded breath caught in my throat as my eyes took in his skin. Danger, this was a vampire I did not want to cross. Every available surface of skin that I could see was scarred with hundreds of vampire bites. Who was this vampire that had fought so many attackers and won? I had never seen anything like him, and he looked rather odd in this surrounding, I could picture him on a battle field somewhere, surrounded by fallen enemies, but to see him here in this tiny town of Forks, holding hands with this, now that I examined her, pixie like creature that danced across the underbrush like a ballerina, it was absurd.

The tiny vampire spoke in a trilling voice and I was instantly reminded of a bird call, "I don't know what happened, I was keeping a close watch on the house, I didn't see anyone even thinking about buying the house, but you know I'm not always right, Rosalie."

A crease had formed between Alice's eyebrows as she frowned at the forest around her. The tall vampire, her mate obviously, looked down at her and squeezed her hand, and a fraction of a second later Alice was smiling at him, all traces of her previous worry or anxiety gone.

What did they mean when the talked about Alice _seeing?_ I would worry about that one later, I could see more vampires now.

Another couple, not touching but obviously together, easily seen by the way they moved in synch with each other, flowing gracefully together as if in a practiced move they had done many times over. These two were older than Alice and her mate but still young by any means. The female had a very homey look about her, something about her face brought up distant blurry memories of my long dead mother. Not that I could really recall my mother's features, no I spent my early years as a vampire trying desperately to hold onto another face from my human life, but the kindness that seemed to emanate from her eyes was familiar to me.

I moved my scrutiny to her mate, another blonde, but this one was where the similarities ended, while the previous vampire had screamed danger, this vampire was his opposite, I couldn't help but be comforted by his calming and kind manner, how I could decide that this vampire was certainly no threat to me, quite the opposite in fact, I couldn't say, but there was something about this couple that made me like them.

Before I could ponder over my strange reaction to these vampires, a third couple entered my line of vision. _Would the couples never end? _Again this couple was completely different from the past two. While the others had expressed their affection for their mates in a subtle, comforting manner, these two vampires were almost crude in comparison. It was clear why they were lagging behind the others, they seemed to be distracting the other with wandering touches, and kisses every few steps. The female was gorgeous, I could tell that she was easily the most beautiful woman I had ever seen before. And the male was huge, his wide shoulders seemed almost out of balance with the rest of his body, and I couldn't help but being reminded of a bear standing on it's hind legs.

How was it possible that these six very different vampires were able to live with each other? All together without fighting, I couldn't make sense of it. The only larger group that I knew of was the Volturi but they were together for a specific reason, unlike these vampires with whom I could make no connections as to why they would be content to live in such a large number.

My thoughts were once again interrupted, this time by the older male who had comforted me so. "Lets worry about that later, it was through no fault of Alice's that this happened, we'll just find somewhere else to live."

What a reasonable man, I knew I was right about him, and now looking at him I couldn't help but get a faint sense of déjà vu.

This was definitely not what I was expecting, I hadn't really thought about what the actual vampires would be like, but certainly not like this, not so, well, human. I had some serious thinking to do.


	5. Chapter 4

Waiting on Some Beautiful Boy Chapter 4

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: I own a life size cut out of Edward, that is all.**

**Thanks for all who read, reviewed and liked my story. I get a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach reading every one.**

Present Day Forks, Washington.

BPOV

Right. My serious thinking wasn't really getting me anywhere. I was stuck at a crossroads. I had piled up reasons for and against leaving this place. I could cut my losses, sell the house, and give up ever finding out how such a large number of vampires could live together. I couldn't help it, this coven intrigued me, from what I had seen and deduced they didn't seem power hungry, or likely to challenge the Volturi for authority. Like I said, I couldn't discern the motives. And maybe, just maybe, the thought of living with these vampires, living amongst my own kind, excited me. I had been alone for almost a century, I hadn't allowed myself to be happy in a very long time.

These vampires were so unlike any of the others that I had come across in Chicago, nomads wandering through my territory. I hadn't liked them, they seemed so inhumane, not that I was any better but, I never really felt comfortable around them. After the initial shock of seeing that first male and his scarred skin, I could detect no malice amongst them, I even felt a vague sense of déjà vu with the older blonde vampire.

Could I really live with these people? Resume some form of normal life, move on and let the past go. But I was getting ahead of myself, they had to want me to live with them as well. I wouldn't force my company upon them, if they didn't want it.

Without even realising it, I found I had already made my decision. I would confront these vampires living in my house and try to get to know them. If things went badly I could always run, they would never catch me, I was special, even for a vampire.

I shifted in the tree, it was impossible for me to get uncomfortable or get cramps from sitting in one place for to long, but I enjoyed moving my limbs none the less.

I could hear them inside the house now, moving around. Two of them, males I could tell by the way the spoke, playing a giant chess game consisting of several chess boards stuck together. The small one, Alice was watching them, and I think helping one cheat. One was in a bedroom upstairs doing who knows what, they were silent. The other two, presumably the older couple, also upstairs, were discussing in low voices their moving options It seemed as though they had already moved in their personal items, so sure of this Alice's judgement about the house.

Now was as good a time as any to approach them. And now that I had made my decision, I was anxious to see it through. _Time to move Bella, get out of the tree for starters._ I dropped out of the tree and landed on the balls of my feet without making a noise. There were few trees between the one I was situated in and the house. It loomed above me, a magnificent piece of architecture. I took a one last deep unneeded breath, the air filling my lungs and bringing me the different tastes of the area. The damp moss of the forest, the small creatures scuttling about in the twilight with their warm blood, and the six vampires currently residing in my house. Ok, enough stalling, time for action.

I padded through the remaining forest at human speed, and made my way up to the steps that led to the porch. I forced myself to remain at human speed, making my footsteps louder, giving them some warning that they would be intruded upon.

The sound of my fist rapping sharply against the wooden door three times reverberated through the house. I could hear them freeze as their sensitive ears took in my footsteps, too silent to be human. I amused myself by imagining the thoughts that would be crossing their minds and the expressions on their faces. They either would be alarmed and getting ready to take flight to avoid being discovered living in someone else's house. Or they would take a stand, and confront me. I wasn't sure which option I should be hoping for. I decided to ease any anxiety they might have.

"Hi there, I'm Bella."

Nothing, no movement in the house although I knew they could hear me.

"You don't have to run, I know you're there, I just want to talk."

I felt incredibly stupid talking to the porch, but as I listened carefully I could hear the vampires who were upstairs move down the staircase, which I knew to be gorgeous from the photos that I had been emailed of the house. A whispered conversation, to low for me to discern took place, and the door swung open to reveal the six shocked vampires looking at me with something akin to fear or surprise in their eyes.

What a ridiculous scenario I found myself in, one vampire confronting an entire coven of vampires about living in her house and then asking said vampires to be accepted into their coven.

The huge male that resembled a bear had swung open the door, a clear move to intimidate me, the scarred on appearing beside him, I could see the others looking at me from around them with slightly curious and calculating eyes. I figured that I would have to be the one to volunteer information so that we could get out of this doorway. I was curious to see my new house.

"Hey how's it going?" The vampires didn't answer and Alice I could see had a frown on her face, looking as though she was trying to solve a difficult math problem. _What do I say in a situation like this?_ I looked at each of their faces, trying to figure out how I could reassure them I meant no harm to them concerning the situation they were in.

"So this is my house, I just bought it and I came around to move in, and you were here."

This wasn't going the way I'd planned it to, I hadn't meant to come across like this. I should have prepared what I was going to say, they were staring at me like I was an alien. Did they think that they were the only vampires in existence? Before I could muse any further over my unusual situation Alice spoke.

"You're going to live here? But you're a vampire, how would you do that?"

Well if that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black, what did they think they were?

"Well you seem to be managing adequately enough, and I have been doing the same for quite some time actually, just in a different location."

Now they just looked thoughtful, they were in shock and didn't seem to be saying anything.

_Perhaps I should reassure them that I don't want to kick them out._

"You don't have to move, I can see that you're attached to this house. Maybe we could work something out that benefits everyone."

Maybe if I let them live here, they would accept me into their coven, but was their love for this house enough to let a stranger enter their lives?

It was the older blonde vampire who broke the silence my last offer had created, offering a small smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Bella, my name is Carlisle and this is my family. Why don't you come in, I'm sure we will all be more comfortable inside."

As he spoke of his family he gestured to the vampires around him. So I was right, the bond that these vampires shared was more than one of convenience, they actually desired the company of each other.

The family of vampires moved back into the house, some of their expressions still on guard and wary. The pretence of finding comfort inside of the house was laughable, this body was so cold and hard to everything that I could stand in an avalanche and not be affected.

The older female vampire smiled at me warmly and gestured that I sit down on the loveseat. The large vampire and the scarred one sat directly opposite me, clearly not trusting me still, completely understandable.

The stunning blonde female regarded me with cool indifference from her position by the staircase, almost bored by my arrival and what it might mean for her family. Alice and the older motherly female sat together to my left on the couch, they were the most welcoming, regarding me with smiles and sitting close to me. Alice still looked at me though with a puzzled expression. And Carlisle sat to my right, obviously the leader of this coven, the one they all looked to for direction.

It was Carlisle who spoke again, addressing me as if one would an old family friend, rather than a stray vampire who had wandered into their home, claiming to own it.

"So Bella why don't you tell us how you came to be here. We have ways," here he looked at Alice, "of seeing what will happen, and we didn't expect you to buy the house at all. As far as we knew it was still on the market with nobody else interested in buying."

I thought that honesty was the best policy in this situation, whatever their ways were, I had obviously interfered with their plans, and I didn't know how angry they might be about it.

"I bought the house a few days ago, it was a snap decision. I had been living previously in Chicago for quite some time, and I needed a fresh start, away from my past. I needed an isolated house in a rainy area, and this was the best available house."

I had carefully avoided revealing anything that they could use against me or anger them, my past, why I was moving and why I had chosen this place. I observed the family's expressions, trying to gauge their reactions to my explanation. Confused, wary, bored, curiosity, and understanding was present on each of their faces.

It was Alice who spoke next, but her question wasn't directed at me but rather her mate, the scarred blonde sitting opposite me.

"Jasper I can't get a read on her, can you feel anything?"

Jasper answered her without looking away from me, his powerful gaze drilling into my eyes, looking for what I didn't know.

"No a thing, she's blocking us."

It was clear they were talking about me and the only thing I could conclude from this short conversation that took place as though I was simply not in the room, was that these two had gifts beyond normal vampire abilities and my physical and mind shields were blocking them.

The other vampires looked at me warily and then to Carlisle to see what he thought of this development. It was clear they depended very much on the extra abilities of these two. I considered my options, I could remove the shields from my mind and body and show them I meant no harm. But I wasn't sure what it was exactly that they could do, do I risk the side effects of what their abilities could do? Well I could always place my shields back in place if their abilities were at all detrimental to my health. I slowly lowered the band around my mind and then the one around my body.

Immediately Alice stiffened in her position on the couch and her eyes clouded over, Jasper hissed and was at her side in a millisecond. His eyes flashed to me and in that moment I was afraid, what had my shields done to Alice? I had meant her no harm, she had been one of the kindest of this family. The rest of the family was now on their feet assuming an offensive stand, baring their teeth at me, ready to attack in a moment.

I resumed my shields around my mind and body, strengthening them to ensure my safety. I prepared my body to shift through the air, ready to jump from here to Chicago, when Alice sat up. Her eyes came back into focus and she smiled. Everyone else seemed to relax as she stood up.

Jasper was still at her side, concerned for her well being I assumed.

"What did you see Alice?"

I was still ready to jump, at any moment they could turn their attention back to me. As if in answer to my thoughts, Alice turned her face in my direction and smiled.

"It's all right, Bella's going to live with us," and at this she skipped over to my side despite Jasper's warning hiss and my flinch away from her, and reached her arms around my waist to pull me in for a hug.

"She's going to be my new sister."

I looked down at the small vampire wrapped around me and wondered at her words, how could she know this? The rest of the family had now shifted from their offensive positions and were looking at Alice and myself in bemusement.

_What just happened here?_

Thanks again to all who read and liked my story, I love getting feedback so please leave me a review! I should have another update in a week or so. Thanks again!


	6. Chapter 5

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 5

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

Disclaimer: Sometimes I only dream.

BPOV

_What just happened here?_

…………………………………………………………..

**13 hours later**

The transition in the Cullen family's attitude towards was instantaneous, after Alice had announced the future (I was still reeling from the revelation of her ability), the family's questioning had turned from suspicious to welcoming and friendly curiosity.

Carlisle had wanted to know about my background.

Esme, the kind older vampire, had wanted to know how I was finding their quaint town.

The large male, Emmett had been curious as to how strong I was, and had challenged me to an arm wrestling match later on once I had settled in.

Jasper, the scarred mate of Alice, was curious about my abilities, he had never come across a mental and physical block like mine before.

Alice had wanted to know what colour I would prefer my room to be decorated in, she had disappeared to order some furniture online.

And Rosalie had been the least curious, in fact she had barely spoken one word to me since everyone had relaxed from our tense standoff. I didn't know if I had personally offended her, or if she was this unfriendly to everyone. But I wouldn't let her attitude affect my stay here, the rest of the family had turned out to be more welcoming and hospitable than I could have ever imagined, especially since they were welcoming me into my own house.

In order to maintain their human pretense, the younger members of the family were going to attend high school the day after next. This fit into my plans so well that once I had told them of my intentions to enroll, Esme had insisted that it was fate that had brought us together.

I wasn't sure how long I would be staying with this family, but a test run, wouldn't harm anyone. Alice's visions were subjective, changing with a person's conscious and unconscious decisions and for the meantime, I was happy with my shared path.

I was curious about their diet, and Carlisle had been more than eager to discuss their eating habits with me. With only a few slip-ups over the years, the whole family was committed to preserving human life. Carlisle so much in fact that he had become a doctor, a fact that astounded me. The smell of fresh human blood had always sent me running for the hills, least I attack, but Carlisle not only had stayed, but also had done everything in his power to save the delicate lives of these damaged humans.

I had also learnt of another coven who shared our common diet, a family located in Denali, Esme had mentioned their names in the off chance I might have run into them in Chicago, but I had never met another vampire outside of the Cullen's who only drank from animal blood. They were on friendly terms and considered them extended family, but the large numbers of the covens combined would have drawn too much attention.

The lifestyle of the Cullens was very similar to my own back in Chicago, maintaining a human façade so that they could meld into society and retain a part of their humanity. When they had graduated from school and nearby colleges, they moved on to another area, least the local humans notice that they weren't aging. They had lived here before in Forks, many years ago and were glad to be back here in this particular house and town.

I was caught unaware when Carlisle mentioned to me their other family member, I had not noticed any other vampires present, before he explained to me that he was currently spending time with the other coven in Denali, I could almost feel my heart constrict in my chest when he casually named his 'son' as Edward.

I could only be grateful that the name had gone out of fashion, and that I didn't look around wildly as I had done in the past, for the sight of my lost love. He had died in my arms nearly a century ago, but there still times when I could almost feel him next to me. It would have been nice to think that his spirit was still with me, that some part of him remained on this earth, but how could I believe in an afterlife knowing what I knew?

I hid my shock behind my blank face and quickly changed the subject as to what Esme did with her time here, and discovered that it was her that had designed the house we were currently residing in, and many others all over the world, she also painted and then promised to give me a lesson to improve my brush strokes.

It was at this point Alice reentered the room, having finished ordering all new furniture for my room which I would apparently love despite that fact that I had not even seen it yet. When I tried to reassure her that I didn't need anything new and that the furniture in the rooms were already lovely, I received a look that questioned my sanity and I learnt not to go against Alice's shopping ideas.

Emmett had already reached the end of his patience by then and had all but dragged me out to the backyard, or what was really just the beginning of the vast areas of land that was now mine, or ours. The other family members had followed us out, apparently a rule had been instated by Esme that all fighting had to be done in the great out doors, after previous matches had left the house in a questionable state.

Even Rosalie had come to watch her mate get beaten at his own sport.

I was reasonable confident in my abilities, and I had been evaluating Emmett from the moment I had laid eyes on his large figure. Emmett's main advantage would be his size and the strength that came with it. I knew his type, overconfident in their muscles, which ultimately led to their downfall. He wouldn't see me coming, I always had my extra abilities in store just in case I was overwhelmed, but I wouldn't use them until the last minute, I didn't like to lose a fight.

I had never really been competitive in my human life, but I had concluded that the reason I was now that I had become immortal, was that I had never really been that talented at anything as a human. Not at painting or at music, only in reading, but there wasn't really an award to win for reading the most books. Without the talent there had been no drive to succeed. Once I had awoken to find my strong new body, pulsing with energy, I hadn't found something that I couldn't do.

And so I had channeled that energy into driving Emmett's fist into the ground, surprised by the resistance he put up. Emmett was an interesting opponent, his strategies contradicted the previous assumptions that I had made about him, he used his brains, and if I hadn't seen his hand maneuver before he would have beat me. However he was anything but a gracious winner, and he was already planning our next match, but for the time being he had to lick his wounds and devise more strategies.

The rest of the family had congratulated me on my victory, impressed as not many people could defeat Emmett in arm wrestling or any other contact sport or fight.

Getting to know the Cullen family was different to how I imagined it would be. I expected awkwardness and suspicion, but this felt like returning to my family after a holiday.

I could easily see myself living with this family on a more permanent basis and Esme in particular had made me feel at home by taking me on a tour of the house, Alice and Rosalie in tow, the former, throwing out tid-bits of information that Esme had missed. The photos that I had seen of the house were nothing compared to the real thing, especially with Esme's personal touches and decorations. The house was truly a marvel and I would not have been able to design something nearly as stylish.

My room was to be the entire third floor, I had learnt that the previous time that the Cullens had lived here, Edward had occupied this room, and I argued that if he joint us here in Forks, like they hinted he might do some time in the near future, he would want his room back, but Alice had all but insisted that I take it, and I had learnt better before, than to try and resist Alice when she had her mind set on something.

Not needing sleep to function had its advantages, and we continued to get to know one another all through the night and the next day. I had hunted before arriving in Forks so there would be no need for me to hunt any time in the near future, although I was curious as to what wildlife here was like.

Before I knew it, it was time for us to enroll at the local high school here, and once we had sorted out my back-story in relation to the Cullens, I was to be Carlisle's niece, we piled into the jeep keep in the garage. I was impressed by the selection of cars that the Cullens had accumulated over the years, having an appreciation for nice cars myself. We pulled out of the house with Carlisle and Esme's good luck calls coming from inside the house. As we drove down the long drive way, I contemplated my position in contrast to the one that I had had planned out in my head before I met the Cullens. I was seated between two female vampires, and they were among the six people that I had allowed myself to become close to in almost a century. A few days ago I had been lonely and isolated from the world, today I was going back to school, this time surrounded by my new family, I smiled at Alice as we slid smoothly into the school's student car park, this would be an interesting day.

**Thanks to all who read and reviewed my story, I love getting feedback.**

**A few people have been wondering when Edward will enter the story, and I can promise he will enter in the next chapter. If you'd like a sneak peak of the next chapter, let me know in a review.**

**Ciao Dolly**


	7. Chapter 6

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 6

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer:**** If I owned Twilight I would be on an island in the Caribbean sipping some form of cocktail out of a coconut. **

**As promised Edward will ****reappear in this chapter, and yes he will meet Bella. I was nervous writing this bit so let me know what you think of it.**

The expression of the office lady as we walked into the small room was almost comical, her jaw was hanging open slightly and her eyes were slightly bugging out of her head. We did make an impressive sight, six stunning teenagers all pale in the extreme with golden eyes all claiming relation to each other although not in a biological sense.

Jasper was the one who approached the lady, his ability to influence emotions would ensure our enrollment with the school would be a smooth transition. We filled out the necessary paperwork and the bell sounded for our first class. Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were enrolled as seniors and Alice and I as juniors. Through some pretty persuasion, Alice had managed to ensure that almost all of our classes were together, and we left the office and made our way to our English class.

As we approached the classroom the other students were also coming in from the car park. A short girl with curly hair and a blonde boy stopped in their tracks by the doorway to look at Alice and I. The girl had trailed off mid sentence and the boy stared at us as if in a trance, I was almost certain I could see drool beginning to slide from one corner of his mouth. As we got closer and went to enter the classroom, we had to pause as they were standing in the doorway. The short girl got the message and moved quickly out of our way, well quickly for a human, and into the room. But the boy seemed frozen in place, too caught up in his appraisal of our appearances to realize the only reason we were looking a him as well, was to get him to move out of our way.

A second bell went off, which seemed to snap him out of his daze as we all moved through the doorway and hung up our jackets. Alice and I took seats towards the back of the room together and ignored the stares of the other students who were making their study of us no secret. I was used to this, the staring, it would eventually die down, but for now, we were not only the novelty of new students, but also stunningly beautiful in their eyes.

The frumpy English teacher made her way into the classroom, puffing a bit, probably only just having arrived in time to hear the bell. Her double take as she spotted Alice and I in our seats in the back of the class prompted us to step forward and present her with our sheets for her to sign. She then directed us to introduce ourselves to the class.

Alice looked at me hiding her smile from the class and took a step forward. The entire class seemed to hold it's breath in anticipation for the sound of her voice, and they were not disappointed as she trilled out in her high pitched tone.

"My name is Alice Cullen, I just moved here with my family and this is my cousin Bella Swan."

I was thankful for the fact that Alice had introduced me, I had never been comfortable with speaking to large audiences, especially in my human life. The children gaped at Alice, captivated by her words. An awkward pause followed, the children unsure if they should welcome us or say hello.

We made our way back to our seats and the class began. We would be studying Wuthering Heights, a story I was very familiar with. It would be no problem to take and pass this class with ease.

The students would turn in their seats every so often to watch Alice and I, and when they did so we pretended to take notes on what the teacher was saying, but for most of the time, we sat there discussing my future wardrobe in voices too quick and low for the humans to hear.

Alice was insisting that we would need to make a trip to Seattle as soon as possible, preferably this coming weekend. I had tried to insist that I did not require that many outfits but she would have none of it. By the end of the lesson we had come to a compromise, we would go to Seattle but I would have the final say on all Alice approved outfits.

Our classes for the rest of the day flew by with ease, there was no new material, not that it would have been a challenge to retain new facts, this mind was capable of retaining more information than several humans joined together. At lunch time the Cullens and myself sat at a table isolated from the other students, turning down several brave offers to join our classmates tables.

We each took a lunch tray, filling them with the repulsive human food and we pretended to swallow down the foul smelling mess. It seemed as though every eye in the cafeteria was trained on our table, watching our every move. Our sensitive ears could pick up the whispers of the children.

"Those chicks are so hot…"

"Can't believe he turned me down!"

"I heard they're all couples, you know, together…"

"They're all so pale, maybe they have some kind of disease?"

The Cullens paid them no notice, obviously accustomed to being the centre of attention. A conversation started between Rosalie and Alice, Rosalie wanting to know if there was any humans that could pose a threat to her title of the most beautiful female within one hundred miles. Throughout the day Alice had informed me of the reason why Rosalie had been so cold towards me.

Apparently I was too beautiful for Rosalie, which was absurd, as there was no way I could compete with her stunning figure, and gorgeous blonde hair. Alice assured me though that Rosalie would warm up to me in good time.

Several of the boys in the room were very distressed with the arrival of Emmett and Jasper, with the female population's attention fixated on the two new gorgeous arrivals, they're popularity was shrinking by the second. A group of the adolescents were sending death stares towards our table except for one.

The boy from my English class was staring at me again, his not so subtle attempt to 'check me out' was starting to get rather irritating. I had seen it before, the humans were attracted to our physical attributes, our appearances lured them in, and every so often, one brave soul would confront me in the hopes of some kind of physical or emotional connection. This Mike Newton unfortunately seemed to be one of them.

I watched him from the corner of my eye as he made to stand up from his seat, before sitting down again and then standing up straight, internally debating on whether or not to come and talk to me. I could see the indecision written on his face before a determination came over him and he half ran towards me at our table.

The Cullens aware of him approaching, stopped their conversation to watch as he stopped in front of me.

"Hii'mMikeNewtondoyouwanttogooutwithmesometime?"

He spoke so fast that if I had been human I would not have been able to understand him, but I decided to draw out his torture. My motto with human boys was crucify one, and the others will leave well enough alone.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that." I said as his Adams apple moved up and down as he swallowed nervously, drawing my attention to his jugular. I stopped myself from going down that train of thought as he wiped his sleeve across his forehead collecting the sweat that had gathered there. Emmett sniggered, and Jasper and Alice smothered their grins into their hands, while Rosalie looked on bored, and maybe slightly jealous of the fact that he had approached me instead of her.

"I'm Mike, I just wanted to know if you need someone to show you around town, cause you know, I live here and umm…" he trailed off rather pathetically as I stared at him coolly.

It was time to bring out the big guns. I stood from my chair and faced him front on, he wasn't all that much taller than me, which made it easier for me to stand him down. The entire cafeteria had stopped their activities to watch the spectacle I was about to make. I allowed some menace into my stance as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared at him.

"Michael I am not and I will never be interested in going anywhere with you even if you were the last man on this planet. You should leave, now."

The poor little human looked as though he was going to urinate in his pants, his mortification so great. I almost felt sorry for him, but thought of the alternative, the teenage boys of Forks High School trailing around after me for the rest of high school was not so appealing. He ran back to his table, grabbed his belongings and fled from the room. The news would spread, and the other boys would stay away from me, too afraid of being shot down themselves.

Unable to hide their amusement any longer, the occupants of my table started to laugh, Emmett's booming chuckle especially loud, carrying around the room.

"Was I too harsh?" I asked the still laughing vampires.

"Harsh?" Jasper choked out, " That boys headed straight for the restroom and he doesn't plan on leaving any time soon, but that might have been partially my fault, I couldn't help myself."

This only made Emmett laugh louder, even Rosalie was trying to hide her smile. We were off to an interesting start here at Forks High School.

My next class was the only one I had without Alice, and I suddenly found myself wishing for her protective presence, I had drawn strength from her all day, maybe she had seen that I would need the emotional support, and I found myself vulnerable without her.

Fortunately it was only Biology, one of the subjects I found especially easy. The humans already in the classroom were staring warily at me, probably half expecting me to explode at them. They were all paired up leaving me to take a table by myself. This was the way I preferred things, no human to slow me down, and I wouldn't have to make myself look stupider to fit in with them. The class passed slowly without Alice to amuse me, already I had become accustomed to her presence, and I found myself enjoying her and the other Cullens company.

Gym was my last class of the day, and I made my way there with some trepidation, I was always careful, but I was constantly worried that I would expose my abilities by being too caught up in the game.

Entering the change room with Alice I could hear two of the teenage girls discussing in whispers my rejection of Mike. These two seemed to be rather fond of the disgraced boy, and were non too happy with me.

"She thinks she's all that, just cause she's new!"

"I doubt _Bella _would be so high and mighty if we took her down a peg, what do you think Lauren?"

I glanced over at Alice in amusement, anything these girls could think of, couldn't possibly have any harmful effect on me. But Alice had a glazed look on her face as she stared blankly ahead of her. In the short time that I had known Alice, I had learnt that this was what happened when she was having a vision.

A few seconds later, she came back into focus an smiled at me.

"We're playing tennis, they're going to try to knock you out."

I almost snorted, and I asked in mock concern.

Will I make it Alice? They look ever so strong and menacing."

We made our way into the gym now, the two plotters in front of us, throwing me glares over their shoulders.

"It'll be a close call but I think you'll pull through."

With a short introduction by the coach, we were handed our battered tennis rackets and chose each other as partners. The two girls, Jessica and Lauren as we now knew, almost leapt to make sure they were opposing us. They glared down the make shift court at me as Alice took the serve flawlessly.

Jessica sent the ball back at me viciously making a ridiculous grunting noise as she did so, it took me quite a lot of self control not to laugh at he poor girl. I effortlessly hit the ball over the net and into Lauren's side.

The game continued in this manner, the two girls getting more and more frustrated, and their grunting more and more animal like, as I consistently flawed their plans. Poor Alice hardly even got to touch the ball, we had drawn quite an audience, the other students who had finished their games were moving their heads back and forward, watching the ball.

The ball finally landed in Alice's half of the court and she set it up deliberately so that Jessica would be able to spike the ball directly at me. The humans eyes lit up as she realized her golden opportunity, and with one last absurd grunt, she sent it sailing straight at my face. I waited till the last possible second before raising my racket and sending it back quickly past Lauren's open arms and into her left eye.

The shriek that left the girl's mouth was almost as ridiculous as her grunts, and she collapsed dramatically to the floor with her hands clasped over her face. Our audience paused as they watched her on the ground, screaming and rolling around as though she was dying. Some were laughing, while others hid their smiles, apparently Lauren was not as popular as she would have liked to have thought. The coach and Jessica made their way over to her to check her wounds. From my position across the room I could tell that she was not seriously hurt, there wasn't even any blood.

Wanting to appear polite and sincere in my apology I walked over to her at a slow pace and knelt down beside her.

"I'm so sorry, my hand slipped on the racket, I hope you're not hurt too bad."

Upon hearing this Lauren stopped her wailing and glared loathingly at me but apparently had no words for the situation. Jessica, however, was more than verbal in her accusations that I had deliberately hurt Lauren. Nobody would believe her though and we had the rest of the class off as the coach took Lauren to the nurse.

"Well I think that was the most exciting first day of high school that I've had in a long time. Nothing is ever boring with you is it Bella?"

I laughed as we made our way out into the car park to join the rest of the family.

"Oh please Alice, you set that up on purpose, although I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

Piling into the jeep for the second time that day, we pulled out of the student car park with once again every eye on us. The Lauren incident would be all over the school tomorrow and hopefully the students here would get the message to leave us alone.

Completely ignoring the speed limit we quickly made our way home and pulled into the garage. Inside the house I could hear high pitched laughter, and before I knew it the other vampire were out of the car and making their way inside. I followed unsure of what was happening.

Alice turned to me, her face lit up in excitement.

"Edward's here, I saw him coming but I didn't know it would be today!"

My stomach tightened minutely upon hearing that name but I smiled as though I was happy to meet this family member with his unfortunate name. We made our way into the main room on the bottom floor and I saw Esme smiling as she walked into the room followed by a tall boy of about seventeen or eighteen.

My eyes caught on his bronzed hair before registering the sharp angle of his jaw, his long straight nose, high cheekbones, crooked grin and golden eyes.

The room had all the air sucked out of it, I didn't need to breathe but I was gasping in shallow breaths and the room spun. My heart and my stomach had clenched together as our eyes met. Words were spoken, not by me or by this vampire. For that was surely what he was, his pale skin, purple bags under his golden eyes. But my mind had frozen, he couldn't be a vampire, he died, I buried him, I sat at his gravestone every day, pleading, talking, begging for him to come back to me.

My feet unconsciously dragged me across the room and I halted in front of him, staring at this ghost, my mouth opened but no words could come out of my frenzied mind. He stared back at me a curious expression on his face.

I couldn't understand this, was he my Edward? What was he doing here, why was he a vampire, why didn't he find me sooner? A thousand questions buzzed in my brain, but still nothing came out.

The emergence of another figure into the room didn't even distract me from my staring until she moved to my Edward's side, placed her hand in his and said in a nasal voice.

"You must be Bella, Esme was telling us all about you. I'm Tanya and this is my mate Edward."

**Yeah I did a cliff hanger, sorry but this one was necessary. I'm off skiing for a week and don't have time to write anything longer**** and I promised Edward.**

**Thanks for all who read and reviewed my story, I get really excited to hear all of your feedback.**

**If you would like a sneak peak of the next chapter, let me know in a review.**


	8. Chapter 7

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 7

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: Nowhere near creative enough to own Twilight.**

**Sorry sorry sorry this took so long! I had schoolwork to do, lame excuse I know, but true.**

Present Day Forks, Washington.

BPOV

How was it possible for a dead heart to break?

No not break, but to disappear entirely. I could remember vividly that last agonising pump that my chest muscle had made, a final desperate attempt to keep the blood flowing around my agonised body, but this? This pain was a different kind of torture.

A mate.

A vampire mate was forever, or as long as eternity lasted. I had seen several mated vampires, the Cullens included and I knew now that while I had been mourning the death of my husband, refusing to move on, to let go, Edward had found another mate.

Someone else to hold him, be with him forever, and to love him.

If a vampire could cry just one time in their existence, I would want it to be now.

Not after I had woken up to this strange world, finding myself immortal, forever separated from my dead true love, no, not as long years past alone, secluded from the world around me, no.

Now I wish I could pour out my heart, physically demonstrate my pain for the world.

But the world didn't care, there was no one around.

I was utterly alone in my grief.

1917 Chicago

BPOV

There was something off about my appearance I thought as I observed my reflection in the large hanging mirror.

My cheeks were flushed, although that was not that unusual, my eyes seemed to be shining, was that even possible? And there was a ridiculous grin pasted over my face, I had been unable to banish it for the past two days.

If my mother and father noticed my strange apparel, this did not mention it. Although I did catch some strange looks passing between the two of them over dinner, a wink at my mother when I remarked on how much I enjoyed the dinner at the Masons, and a grin barely smothered by my mothers hands as I commented on the fashions worn by the other ladies who were dancing.

"Really Isabella darling? I was under the impression you hardly noticed anything outside of the charming little bubble you and young Mr. Mason had created about yourselves."

I had stuttered, and turned my attention back to my food. I didn't realize I had been talking so much about the Masons. Or maybe I was just talking about Edward Mason. Edward. Just his name alone would make me sigh as I sat in the library, my book long forgotten.

I would replay that night over and over in my mind, mainly focusing on the dancing. Despite my klutziness I had managed not to injure Edward too badly, his right foot might be sore for a few days, but compared to what could have happened, I was reasonably satisfied. Ah Edward. He was just too incredible to be true, the image of his perfection seemed to be burnt into my retinas. The uncontrollable messy hair, the sharp line of his jaw, his sparkling green eyes and his crooked grin revealing two white sets of perfect teeth.

And he was intelligent! Edward was well read, even though he had not read some of the same books that I had, I could forgive him that, he was aware of what was happening in the world around him, and he was only in his last year at school. _I wonder what he would like to do after he leaves? _His father was a lawyer, but I couldn't see Edward in court, yelling at the jury and the judge.

In fact I couldn't see him yelling at all, he seemed too gentle, too wonderful. Almost too good to be true. And he had chosen to spend his time with me, the bookworm from Arizona.

I was nothing special, I knew that. But the way Edward had looked at me as we had danced had made me feel as though I was the most beautiful woman in the room. Which I knew to be false of course.

Margaret Howard was the image of perfection, her beauty seemed to radiate around her in waves and she was from old money, her prospects were far greater than mine, but Edward had chosen to spend time with me over her.

Oh no. _What if he had been forced to be polite? _The ball had been thrown in honor of my family's arrival, and of course Mr. and Mrs. Mason would want their son to be charming to the new arrivals. My stomach clenched and I felt very cold all of a sudden.

Of course Edward hadn't wanted to spend time with me, he was just making his parents happy, being a model son. What on earth would he want with me, I was as plain as could be, and standing next to miss Howard I looked downright hideous.

A sob escaped me and my book fell to the floor as I covered my face. It had been so real! He was so convincing, I thought he had liked me. Edward Mason was so far out of my league, I was an imbecile for even considering he would want to spend time with me.

It was in this position, my legs curled up and into my chest with my arms wrapped around them and my face buried into my knees that my mother found me sometime later.

"Bella, I'm off to the market and was wondering if you would join me. Oh sweetheart what's the matter?"

I looked at her through my puffy eyes as she knelt beside me her hand going to stroke my hair.

"Ed…Edward Ma... Mas...Mason." Was all that I could manage at that point.

"But darling I thought you liked the boy?" My mother's look of confusion would have been amusing if I had not been so miserable.

"Bu…but, he doesn't like me!" I buried my face into my legs again, not wanting to see the look of pity on my mother's face, I already pitied myself enough for the both of us.

The sound of my mother's laugh brought my face back up quickly though. _How could she laugh at a time like this?_ When I felt as though my heart would never feel right again, after falling so hard and so quickly only to be broken before the doomed relationship could even begin.

"Oh sweetheart, you honestly don't think that do you? The poor boy couldn't keep his eyes off of you."

I had thought so too, but Edward was so far out of my league, he couldn't possibly want me.

"I thought that he was only talking and dancing with me because his parents wanted him to be polite." My mother's knowing look annoyed me, she didn't understand how hard this was.

"My dearest Isabella, you don't see yourself clearly, I've said it once, and I'll say it a thousand times, you are the most beautiful girl of your age, you silly little thing. You take after me of course."

She had said that before, but I couldn't believe it. When my mother saw that she would not change my mind, she set about convincing me to come to the market with her, as the fresh air would do me good. I argued back saying that I could catch a cold or worse, a few cases of the flu that had been killing so many people worldwide had shown up here in Chicago and I asked if my own mother wanted me to die.

Eventually she dragged me out of the house labeling me a drama queen and I sulked the entire way there, my thoughts still on Edward and his supreme acting abilities.

The market was nothing exciting, it looked just the same as the ones in Arizona, my mother dragged me around the stalls, trying to lift me from my mood, but it was not until I found a table filled my necklaces did I pay attention. There was a fine silver chain and hanging from it was a great emerald jewel. It was the exact colour of Edward's eyes.

Sighing I turned from the stall in case my traitorous eyes betrayed me and started to cry again, as I turned I bumped into a tall stranger, before starting to fall to the ground. Two arms grabbed my waist and straightened me, holding me in place.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see you there sir." I tried to move out of his way, embarrassed yet again by my klutzy nature.

"That's quite all right Bella, I hope you're not hurt?" I knew that voice, my insides melted at that honeyed voice. The sight of the man who had been plaguing my every thought for the past two days greeted me as I looked up.

"Edwa…Mr. Mason, thank you, I don't believe I am hurt." My body was very aware of the fact that his hands were still placed on my hips and I could feel my cheeks starting to heat. I tried to shift my weight onto my other foot, only to find my ankle was tender and I winced.

"Please Bella, call me Edward, your ankle, is it alright?" I was well enough acquainted with accidents and my body to know that I had probably only sprained my ankle but I didn't want Edward to feel obligated to help me.

"It should be fine thank you, I ah, should be going, and my mother is probably waiting for me." Poor Edward most likely just wanted to leave but was only staying out of moral obligation.

"Actually I just passed your mother who said she was on her way home, she directed me on how to find you here, perhaps I could escort you home, I wouldn't want you to injure your ankle further." Was he serious? He couldn't honestly want to spend time with me, could he?

"Well Edward I wouldn't want to hold you up from what you were doing." His beautiful face looked worried as he glanced down at my covered ankle.

"I'd much rather walk home with you if you don't mind Bella. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you." Moral obligation. There it was again, Edward was just too kind for his own good, but it seemed as though he would not be discouraged.

"Thank you Edward that's very kind of you, though I'm sure you have other plans which are far more exciting than I am." I didn't want him to leave but wanted him to understand I wouldn't think badly of him if he would rather leave me here.

"Miss Swan, I would enjoy nothing more than spending the afternoon in your company, now in which direction is your house?" As he asked me he held out his arm for me to lean on if I was unable to walk on my leg properly. I was suddenly overcome with the desire to lie and to say I didn't know where my house was in the hope that I would be able to spend more time with Edward. Knowing I would never be able to pull off a convincing lie I pointed out of the markets and to a main street bustling with busy people. I took Edward's arm and looked up at his face to see him smile at me and tighten his grip on my hand.

This was going to be a long walk home.

The response I received to Tanya was huge, apparently she's not a very popular character…

Over 100 reviews! Stoked! And so very proud and thankful, you guys really make my day, okay week, maybe even month. Love to hear what you think of their past.

Next chapter is Edward's POV of their past continuing on from the end of this chapter.


	9. Chapter 8

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 8

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: Nowhere near creative enough to own Twilight.**

One word. Trials. They have owned and dominated me for the last month and a bit, I was their bitch, but now I am back.

1917 Chicago

EPOV

The notes flowed freely from my fingertips as I sat hunched over my piano. The clear melody, which had been playing in my head for the past two days, resonated throughout the household accompanied by my strong voice. There were no words in my song, only sounds, beautiful sounds that paled in comparison to the beauty of my Bella.

Song after song poured out of me not to mention the small melody I had been having trouble with two days previously, it had transformed into a never-ending piece, which weaved in and out of complicated harmonies and bridges before slowing to a gentle lullaby. It wasn't difficult to place the source of my musical inspiration. All that I needed to do was to picture Bella's soft blush upon her cheek, or the way her deep brown eyes twinkled when she laughed, or even her clumsiness as she danced, in fact just about anything that concerned Bella had compelled me to express her beauty and her magnificent uniqueness through the means of my grand piano.

Unable to sleep away the few remaining hours of the night or early morning after the ball, I had retreated to my piano, regretful that I had been unable to show Bella my talents as my mother had desired earlier in the evening. Not that I hadn't enjoyed dancing with Bella, it had been wonderful. Bella was not being modest when she had told me of her two left feet, but they had made her all the more endearing and a part of who she was, a person I was quickly becoming most enamored with.

Colours seemed to take on a new vibrancy, I found appreciation in the most insignificant of sounds, and the smell and tastes of my surroundings seemed to increase tenfold. I was viewing and experiencing the world on an entirely different level now. Isabella Swan had opened my heart and I was now exposed to the wonders of the world, and by doing so, she had only made me realize just how special she really was.

I could not for the life of me find the exact reason for my admiration of Bella. She was stunningly beautiful of course, and appealed to me in a way other women never could, but my attraction for her ran deeper than that. Was it her shy personality, her love of books? The passionate way in which she had expressed her opinions on music and literature, or maybe it was the way she acted, Bella was unlike any other girl I had ever met, and I had met quite a few thanks to my mother's prodding.

Speaking of my mother, she had taken to singing and almost skipping around the house, and it wasn't hard to guess why. I was fairly certain that her inappropriate behavior was directly linked to my newly found obsession with Ms. Swan. But I could not fault her really, she had spent so much time pushing young women at me with no result that she must have given me up for a degenerate. Up until now I had had no interest in anybody, regardless of their gender, but now all the passion emotions that had been absent in my life had come into full force in the form of a blushing, stumbling girl.

I could hear my mother now in the room above me, overseeing the preparation of the guest room for my arriving cousins. Their timing could not be worse, James and I did not exactly see things eye to eye on most civilized affairs. At the school we both attended throughout the year, James had earned himself a reputation as a ladies man and a troublemaker. He was never caught though, James seemed to have a certain instinct for evasion, almost a sixth sense. His parents and teachers did not seem to pick up on his extracurricular activities, they thought him the very model of a proper young gentleman. But I was not fooled, he did not pull the wool over my eyes, there was something about him that was distinctly sinister, a shadow behind his eyes when things did not go his way.

And now he would be in the same house as me for a week, just as the Swan's had arrived and if I had anything to do with it, I would be seeing them a lot more of that family from now on. I could only hope they would never meet. The last thing I wanted was for my beautiful Bella to be caught in James' tangled web of adultery, drinking and gambling. She was so much more than that, and I was sure that one as pure as Bella could never be taken in by such a philandering menace.

I was disrupted from my musing as my mother entered the room, a list in hand, a sign that never boded well for me.

"Edward dearest, would you venture down to the markets for me? I would send John to do it but he has injured his hand while chopping the firewood."

I knew resistance would be futile, my father and I had long accepted that there were some battles just not worth fighting when it came to my mother's will power, but sometimes, in fact, most of the time, my mother's plans worked to our advantage. I did not want to leave my piano for a new song had sprung into my mind, inspired by Bella's beautiful brown hair, or what I had seen of it, in my mind I imagined it long and flowing down her back in waves, contrasting her milky white skin, a gentle blush adorning her cheeks…

I was brought back to my music room as my mother continued to speak.

"I only need a few things, well here have this list, and are you going to wear that shirt? Your new one from the tailor's would really bring out the lovely green of your eyes."

Sighing, I took the list and made my way down the stairs, who knew maybe I would find a pretty little trinket to give to my Bella. I wonder would she look better in red or blue? Did she favor brooches or necklaces, did she even like jewelry? I was way in over my head maybe I should have asked my mother before I left.

"Mr. Mason!"

I turned around, expecting one of the women my mother socialized with to match the call. But when I saw the lady calling for me, my heart lifted in my chest, it was Mrs. Swan. Eagerly I looked behind her, half expecting Bella to be following along, but was disappointed to find her alone, although I smiled none the less.

"Mrs. Swan, how nice to find you here, I hope that you are well?"

Bella's mother smiled knowingly at me as my eyes searched the crowds for any sign of her daughter.

"Quite well Mr. Mason, I am here with my Bella, although I have what I needed now and I am ready to leave, but I can't seem to locate my daughter."

An opportunity to spend time with Ms. Swan was the best offer I had had all day and I seized it with both hands.

"Well then please Mrs. Swan, allow me to locate and accompany your daughter home while you proceed there yourself."

Mrs. Swan smiled at me charmingly as she answered before winking and turning away.

"Oh would you Edward? That's very kind of you, thank you."

Walking through the markets and picking up the odd bits and pieces my mother had requested, my mind began to search the crowds for Bella. A young girl that had the same shade of hair colour as Bella that clutched to her nanny's hand caught my eye, the brown eyes of a shop owner had me doing a double take as I moved through a line of customers. And the pale skin of a… wait, there was only one person I knew with skin that creamy, and that long graceful neck, I would know it anywhere.

Moving towards her now, I could see her dark brown hair wrapped into a bun placed on top of her head, and her long slim fingers touching a silver necklace with an emerald pendant at it's center. So she did like jewelry, I noted the necklace for future reference as I moved behind her, just in time to see her sigh and turn into me, losing her balance. Acting quickly as she started to fall, my hands found their way around her waist to steady her, but not before her ankle turned on the stone next to mine. She started to speak but her words were lost on me as I breathed in her floral scent, which I couldn't quite place. As my mind caught up with her sentence I realized that she had not recognized me yet.

"That's quite all right Bella, I hope you're not hurt?"

Her ankle must be twisted after that slight fall and I began to fret that she could have done it serious damage. She denied that she was hurt but winced as she put pressure on her foot. There was no way I could let her wander around unattended, she could injure herself further. Bella protested and tried to encourage me to leave her, did she not want me around her? I had noticed that her eyes were slightly red and puffy and I was upset to think that something or someone had made her cry. But a gentleman never left a woman unattended let alone an injured one at that. I insisted that I would accompany her home just like her mother had implored me.

All I could think of as I took Bella's arm in mine was how grateful I was for having an interfering mother.

Once again, thanks to all who read and enjoyed my story and sorry for the wait. The next chapter is back in the present and I'm anxious to hear what you think will happen now that Bella knows Edward is alive and with Tanya (or is he???) 


	10. Chapter 9

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 9

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: Owning Twilight. Not a chance.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

"You must be Bella, Esme was telling us all about you. I'm Tanya and this is my mate Edward."

The blonde vampire removed her hand from my Edwards after giving it a comforting squeeze and held it out for me to shake. If I had been human, I would have fainted, but as a vampire my body could withstand practically anything and this severe emotional shock didn't stop my brain from processing this entire situation in less than a second.

Still dumfounded I took Tanya's hand and unconsciously began to crush it, digging my nails into her palm, wanting to crush her limb from limb. I could tell she was trying to exert some pressure on my own hand but I was blinded from any pain other than the one squeezing my heart in a vice, threatening to consume me.

My brain caught up to my movements and I stopped hurting her, it wasn't her fault that this had happened, I knew that. Maybe it wasn't even my Edward, maybe it was just some cruel cosmic joke, I thought. As if fate hadn't already decided to completely ruin my existence.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tanya, although I'm afraid I've heard absolutely nothing of you, but quite a lot of Edward."

My eyes hadn't left Edward's face in all this time just as he was staring at me completely absorbed by my face and as I spoke something came over his face, a shadow of recognition, a gleam in his now golden eyes, a quirk at the corner of his mouth as he opened it to speak, and then it was gone, he closed his mouth, but his eyes did not move away from my face.

The others in the room including Tanya, melted away until there was only Edward and I, that's all there had ever been in my world. No, Edward was my world and I was his moon, orbiting around him, pulled to him by gravity and I could feel myself moving towards him now just as he was brushing past Tanya and the space between us was being closed, slowly, so slowly. And then he was there, my Edward, alive and in front of me.

My hand reached, unbidden, which I was heedless to stop, slowly, as if he would disappear if I moved too quickly, slowly towards his perfect face, which was now scrunched in concentration as if my existence was a complicated math equation that he was trying to solve. And my hand stopped just before it would touch his check, uncertain, hoping so desperately but expecting the worse. That he did not love me. That he did not want me. That he was not real.

The energy that pulsed in the space between our skin was burning me from the inside out. My hand hovered still, a millimetre away, as if an invisible force field was holding me back from the one thing I wanted, needed in this world.

And then the space was gone. Shocked, my eyes widened, certain that my hand had not moved but I was touching his cheek. Edward had placed his head in my head and all other thoughts were consumed by that oh so familiar fire that was raging through me, starting at my hand out expanding out until my entire body was scorched from the inside out, and then the centre of the universe was cradled, is cradled in my hand and my Edward was here, and he was mine, he is mine. My throat closed over and my eyes burned with the tears that would not fall. And I had waited so long, it had been so long since I had seen his face, felt his skin beneath my hand, felt his breath against his face.

And I was breathing too, not for the air but to smell him, to drink in his very essence, my breath mingling with his as I breathed in as he exhaled, taking in a part of him, any part that I could, anything that I could keep, desperate to hold him, afraid to let go and he would disappear.

And now he was closer again, his chest almost brushing against mine, and who had moved and did it really matter? Because I was touching him and the world was suddenly filled with colour and he was my world and the distance between his face and mine was disappearing and I could smell him for the first time in almost a century, and it was too much like it used to be, but different, he smelled different, too sweet but just right because he was different now and I was different now and everything had changed, but everything was the same. So familiar, how many times had we done this? But this was new, this was different, but that was okay.

My hand was moving against his cheek, caressing, smoothing over perfectly marble skin that's shimmering slightly, another change, and there's no scar under his eye from our crazy baseball game, which I used to run my lips over every night, that's gone now, just like he was gone, like the rest of him was gone, just like that, and now he's here, and my head. My head is on fire and I can't think, and I can't see and I can't breathe because Edward is right here, he's right in front of me and I can feel his breath of my lips and his nose is running along mine. And I really can't see now because my eyes have shut, but that's okay because I would know Edward's face better than the back of my hand.

And his lips are right there, and for a moment the world stops turning as he exhales, and I inhale his strange new scent, his new vampire scent, and I pause. Vampire.

Vampire.

Edward is a vampire.

He's not my Edward.

Not anymore.

And my eyes open and stare at his face. He's waiting for me to move just that little bit further, he always did, always letting me decide our pace. Our lips are so close that his bottom lip, slightly bigger than his top one brushes lightly, so very lightly against my top one, and he moves his head sideways and it brushes against the length of mine. And it's taking everything I have not to kiss him back.

But he doesn't belong to me now. With a jolt I remember that he belongs to Tanya.

And just like that the spell is broken, the world comes back into focus and the rest of the family appears, frozen, shell shocked and Tanya staring, mouth hanging gaping open in disbelief. And I know, I know now that there is no way I can be here. No way I can watch the two of be together and endure it. Edward would never leave her. He was and always will be a gentleman and he had made her a commitment, not one like the feeble human marriage bond, but a vampire mate. An irreversible connection that could not be parted, even by death, much like the love I thought Edward and I shared. But I had to be wrong, if Edward loved me the way I had loved him, continued to love him even after his death for a century then he would have never found another mate.

Never.

Preparing to do this hardest thing in my entire existence, I pulled my hand away from Edward's face and his eyes opened, surprised, shocked, eyes still latched onto my face. But I couldn't look at him, it would only make it that much harder.

I took a step back from him quickly drawing in a new breath, one unpolluted my his obsessive scent and faced the rest of the family still frozen in place and I said the only thing that would come to mind. These people had only been my family for a few short days but my connection to them was the strongest one that I had formed in my vampire life and now I knew I would never be able to stand seeing them again.

"I'm sorry."

And I disappeared, transporting myself away from the house, away from the state, away from Edward. Not paying attention to my destination, I found myself standing a top a towering cliff, the long drop to the ocean made unappealing by the ferocious jagged rocks which the waves threw themselves upon as if to devour them.

I felt like that rock. Devoured. Completely consumed, my stomach eaten away, my heart completely absent, my mind unthinking. I sank to the ground and my fingers sought to uproot the coarse grass that grew here on the isolated windy cliff. I had been here before, once as a newborn, trying desperately to end my pathetic life. I had failed.

Now as I sat here again I wished for the same thing, just to die, just to let go. I didn't want to be alive anymore, I just wanted it to end. Hadn't I suffered enough? Why couldn't the world just let me die.

My hand released the blades of grass and I watched as they were swept up by the wind and carried before dropping down into the ocean. My life had been like that. Edward had been my wind, taking me higher and higher, our love tossing and turning my life around on an exhilarating journey before abandoning me, letting me drown under my own mistakes.

I raised my hand to my chest and clutched at the spot where my heart used to pump my life force around my body. Now it was good for nothing, just another reminder of what I had lost. The rage, which I had not felt in a long time, consumed me and I wanted nothing more than to rip it out of my chest and hurl it into the heaving ocean below.

I needed the tears to come, I need to grief and needed to get this out, this pain, this poison and I couldn't. Tearing through my shirt I scratched at my chest, clawing wishing my heart would just appear so I could throw it away. When I failed I grabbed my hair instead, pulling and tearing, a scream building in my throat and came out as a howl, a primitive low guttural sound, the sound of an animal in pain. My voice was lost as the waves crashed and the sky began to flash with lightening, eerily illuminating the worst moment of my life.

It was easy, watching Edward die, compared to this. I would take that a hundred times. But now having to walk away from him, knowing that he was alive and that he was with another woman, that was not me, I knew this was by far the worse I could ever feel. The thunder rumbled overhead as I pounded the soft earth beneath my hands, tearing, pulling, clumps of earth and rock flying as I tried not to feel anything. Gasping, I laid down, my face pressing into the damp earth my nostrils smelling the dirt and soil but craving a much sweeter scent.

How to make this agony end? How to make everything just disappear?

The answer was so simple I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. Rushing in my haste to put myself to sleep I rolled onto my back and for a moment looked up at the storm above me, appreciating that the world was reflecting my internal storm before closing my eyes and turning off that part of my brain, a talent which I had stolen from a vampire in Moscow.

And I embraced the blackness.

So yeah. Hoped you liked it. Plenty of hints in there of what is to come, but I wouldn't presume anything yet.

_**I won't be able to update this story for over a month probably. Annoying right? But my life is being really awesome right now and won't work out the way I want it to. You know average problems like having final school exams, parents divorcing, straightener exploding, mothers turning out not to be biologically related to you and to top it off I dislocated me knee. But the catastrophe that overshadows all of these things… I ran out of conditioner and now my hair is oily. So I get points for writing my story. You know what could make everything awesome??? Reviews!**_


	11. Chapter 10

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 10

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: I have two copies of twilight, one for reading and one to look pretty on my shelf. That's as far as my owning rights go.**

**Quick short update before my exams cause I can't stay away from this story. Next update will be sometime after November 12****th****. Yay exams!**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

_And I embraced the blackness._

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The peace that the dark brought to me wouldn't last for long, I knew that. Colours and sounds began to swirl around the insides of my head, blurring and mixing together in patterns, an arm here, a face there, never complete, elusive like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands, before finally solidifying, forming pictures, snapshots of my previous life before dissolving again and reforming into the next image.

A murky memory surfaced and came into focus. A little brown-haired girl was crying over a grazed knee and a concerned man was kneeling down besides her, patting her on the back awkwardly. _The only memory of my father that had survived my transformation._

My mother tucking me in to bed singing me to sleep, a ritual she performed every night for years. _The words had been lost decades ago but occasionally I still found myself humming the tune while watching the sunset, the last flickers of light dancing upon my dazzling skin._

My secret hideaway in Phoenix, the library, surrounded by all of my favourite books where I could escape from the world outside and immerse myself in the lives of others.

A sore leg as I limped towards a beautiful mansion, three figures standing at the door to welcome us inside.

Glancing up at the face of a God. The shock and awe, the overwhelming sense of peace, happiness and security that came with observing his features.

A slow dance. Strong arms wrapped around my body, anchoring me to the earth and a smell like no other enveloping me. _It had taken months for the smell to fade out of his clothing and even then I would not part with it, clinging desperately to the past._

Listening to Edward at piano, playing a song he had composed for me, his face serious as he concentrated on the difficult notes in the flowing melody. _The same piano had remained untouched all this time, gathering dust and cobwebs. To even think of removing it was to try and take Edward out of my heart, it had been one of my greatest joys, to hear him play and even looking at the piano as time past would stab at my gut._

Being presented with a bouquet of posies hand picked from his garden, with only half the flower heads surviving his mad dash to catch my mother and I before we left the carnival.

Reading a letter over breakfast. The memorised words swimming to the surface of my mind.

_My dearest Bella, _

_Has it been only a day since I last saw your beautiful face? To me it seems a lifetime. I…_

Standing in the Baker's cloakroom, laughing and hiding with Edward from Margaret Howard, our bodies pressed closely together, fervently hoping that I never had to leave his side.

Hiding on the staircase with my maid, stifling giggles as we eavesdropped on the conversation that would change my life. Edward asking my father for permission to take my hand in marriage.

Edward waiting at the alter for me. The love and adoration he held for me plain for the world to see, written across his beautiful face, his crooked grin lighting up the church as my lace covered hand was delicately placed in his.

A simple gold band placed on my finger. _Worn around my neck at all times._

Promising him forever. _Living without him forever._

Being carried across the threshold of our new home laughing.

Stripped bare before each other for the first time, observing his pale perfection.

Edward's face above mine, his lips claiming my own as he made me his wife officially.

Lying down on the front porch swing, while Edward hummed a lullaby in my ear, stroking my hair.

The elation at first time we were announced in public as Mr. and Mrs. Edward Masen.

The passion on Edward's face as he joined with me over and over in our bed.

Running to greet Edward coming home through the front gate, after his job as a clerk, which he had taken at his fathers work to provide for us.

Colliding with a hard chest with arms swinging me round in a circle, kisses peppering my face as I told him I was late.

Edward's face pressed into my stomach, whispering sweet nothings to the both of us.

The Influenza spreading through the city, praying at the bed to God, to shield us from harm.

Our families falling ill with Spanish Influenza.

The crowded hospital rooms.

The smell of death.

Returning home with Edward each night, exhausted after spending long days at the hospital volunteering.

My worst nightmare as Edward fell ill.

Never leaving his side as his strength failed, taking care of him, comforting him, praying for him.

Our families passing away, leaving us alone in the world.

Keeping his temperate down, wearing myself out.

Collapsing on the cot next to him.

Grabbing a doctor, begging him to save my Edward, no matter what the cost.

Edward's last words to me, his green eyes burning into mine. _I'll love you longer than forever. Promise me my love, promise me you'll live and be happy, love our son and be happy. Bella…_

Waking up to find the cot next to mine empty.

The pain, my heart tearing itself apart.

The depression, not leaving the house. Not answering the door for the condolences that would make it real. Barely eating. A ghost. The only thing tying me to the earth, my growing stomach.

The funeral with no body in the earth. The tombstone lined next to his parents. Cold and bleak. Missing, like my soul.

Lying across the wet earth, sobbing, howling at the heavens, fingers tracing the engraving on the stone, desperately trying to bring him back, bring him back to me.

Barely registering the cold fingers wrapping around my throat, the sharp pain in my neck.

The burning.

The fire.

Hoping I was dying, hoping I would see my Edward soon. That when I woke, when the burning ended, we would be together again.

Opening my eyes. Alone. The gravestone lying flat, pushed over by my thrashing.

Sharp, crystal clear. I could see, smell, hear everything.

The burning in my throat.

No Edward.

My stomach was flat.

Finding myself at the house.

My red eyes.

The smashed mirrors.

The failed attempts to take my life.

No Edward, no baby.

_STOP!_

My eyes opened, it would do no good to keep reliving the pictures. They would only loop and loop around my head.

I looked out over the now calm ocean, watching the gulls swoop down to the waves to catch a meal of fish.

It was time for me to leave. Time for me to run.

But where was I running to?

I couldn't go back. But where else would I go? Could I leave forever, knowing that Edward was alive and within my grasp?

I couldn't go back. Could I? I could see the answer in my mind and heart before I even finished asking myself the question.

About three things I was absolutely certain.

The first, Edward was a vampire.

**The second, there was a part of him, and I didn't know how dominant that part might be, that was in love with Tanya.**

**And third, I couldn't live without him anymore.**

_**What's Bella going to do? Review if you want a sneak peak of the next chapter, and if you guys are really generous I might throw in an Edward POV. Just saying. Thanks to everyone for the support with the last chapter, seriously you guys make me ridiculously happy.**_

_**Xx Dolly**_


	12. Chapter 11

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 11

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: Not in a million years.**

**Sorry it took so long for this update to come, but I have officially finished school now, and the updates will be longer and more frequent from here on out.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

I didn't linger a t the cliffs, didn't look at the mess I had inflicted upon the ground, the shredded earth and the missing chunks of rock. I stood up brushing the dirt from my clothing, my hands pausing over my stomach and a pang echoed through my chest. The pain of losing my unborn baby had numbed over time but it had never really faded. And it hit me hard now, especially after reliving my pain over in my head. I pushed my legs forward. The routine, the stretch of my muscles settling into the long familiar stride soothed me and I allowed my thoughts to move to Edward.

The human Edward, _my_ Edward, the one I knew must be lost in this new body somewhere. He might have changed, become different, harder, immortal, and out of love with me, but I knew that somewhere in that body was the man that I loved and who loved me in return.

And I was going to bring him back.

But to do that, I would have to be the one to go back. Back to my house and the Cullens, Edward and… Tanya.

She would have to go. There was no room for her in my plans with Edward. She might have fooled him into believing they were meant to be together, but I knew without a doubt now, that Edward was my soul mate and I was his. He had just forgotten that somewhere along the way, and I was going to have to remind him. Because it didn't matter if he had forgotten me, and the time we spent together when we were alive, because I could remember enough for the both of us. Even if it took the rest of my existence I would prove to Edward that he belonged with me, not Tanya.

I was sure that Tanya was really a lovely person, a wonderful and kind vampire, if only for the fact that Edward could not tolerate cruelness, but in my mind now she was the enemy. An unwelcome obstacle to Edward's and my happiness together. In my mind, she was ugly, hideous in fact, both inside and out. She was rude, selfish and was hateful to everyone she met.

In my mind, upon my arrival back at the house, Edward would turn to her, open his eyes and see her for what she truly was, before telling her that they could never be together and that he had always been and always will be hopelessly in love with me. He would then proceed to sweep me into his arms and kiss me, making up for all of our lost time, while Tanya watched on sobbing on the ground.

It wasn't realistic to hope for such an outcome, but it made me feel better to imagine that this situation could be resolved in such a simple manner. The more likely alternative would be that I was in for a long battle to win back my husband. If he was still in there.

Forest scenes blurred past me now as I sidestepped trees and leapt over fallen trunks. The sounds and animal life of the forest fell silent as I past before returning to it's normal volume in relief. I was a thing to be feared, a predator. And I had locked in on my prey, and once I had him, he would never escape me again.

I wouldn't lose Edward again, I couldn't.

The pain had been almost too much to stand the first time and if I hadn't been protected by impenetrable skin and unbreakable bones I would have succumbed to my grief and perished. Living on in this twisted cruel world and knowing that Edward was within my grasp and that I had not done everything that I could to make him mine again was an unbearable prospect. I needed to do this.

Running wasn't getting me anywhere, even at my speed it would take me several hours to get back to the house, and I was suddenly anxious to put my plans into action.

Closing my eyes, I pictured the forest surrounding the house in my head and tapped into that stored source of energy in my brain and let it flow through my body. The same forest greeted my eyes as they opened. The house was just visible through the thinning trees.

Suddenly I wasn't so anxious to go inside. Who knew what sort of reception I would receive following my rather dramatic exit after practically molesting their family member and mate in front of their eyes? And what would Edward think? What would he make of my emotionally charged attack on his person? Surely it had all been one-sided and that in my deranged state I had imagined that he had reciprocated my actions and feelings. That's what had happened, wasn't it?

Now I didn't know how to act around the Cullens, should I plead temporary insanity? Pretend it was a joke? Could I tell them the truth?

I would have to play it by ear, I would apologize for my behavior and if it were necessary I would explain that Edward reminded me very much of a person that I used to know. I wasn't comfortable enough to reveal my complicated past just yet.

The déjà vu of the moment was not lost on me, was it only a few days ago that I had stood in almost this exact same spot building up the courage to confront this strange coven living in my house? It seemed a lifetime ago. In that short amount of time I had formed stronger friendships with not only Alice, but Emmett, Carlisle and Esme, with time I had hoped Jasper and Rosalie would warm to me and… _what Bella? Live as one big happy family? Things like that just don't happen to you. You had your chance at happiness and he died._

But he hadn't died. Somehow he had been changed, saved.

But by who? Who had made him like this? The last memory I had of Edward was of him curled towards me in his cot next to mine, his fever hot hand grasping my own with failing strength, before I blacked out. When I had woken up the doctors had told me he had been taken to the morgue and that they were sorry for my loss.

But he couldn't have died, someone must have taken him from his cot while he was still alive and bitten him. It could have been anyone.

And I wouldn't find out who it was standing out here in the woods. I would have to ask him myself.

I hadn't actually heard Edward speak, I hadn't spoken to him at all. And that needed to be rectified.

I walked across the clearing towards the house wondering if his voice would sound the same, if it was still deep and husky or if it had changed when he became a vampire. Mine had changed, it took awhile for me to have any reason to speak aloud after my change and I found myself alone, but when I had, I had been shocked to find that my voice had deepened and become more rich in tenor, like flowing honey caressing the words.

_I hoped his voice hasn't changed. _I thought to myself as I walked up the porch steps. So much of him had changed already, I wasn't sure how much more change I could take.

I hesitated at the door, should I knock? It was my house after all, but after my abrupt departure and uncouth actions, was I still welcome among the Cullens? After this deliberation I decided just to enter, they would have heard my entrance and knocking was only a formality here.

Turning the doorknob I listened for signs of movement within the house, but I could detect nothing.

I had taken one step inside the foyer when I was tackled back against the door with a crash and the plaster of the wall connected to the door cracked under the pressure. Thinking I was being attacked I panicked and tried to push the figure pining me to the door away when arms wrapped themselves around my waist and a voice sobbed.

"You're back!"

Thank you to all who have read and enjoyed my story so far. I love everyone's comments and suggestions and I'm sorry that it took me this long to get out. Now that I have no schooling obligations I will be able to update much faster and write longer chapters. Thanks to all who have stuck in with me and who have encouraged me to keep writing, I value all of your feedback and opinions. The next update isn't far away!

_**Xx Dolly**_


	13. Chapter 12

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 12

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: Not the last time I looked. I'll just check really quickly… nope I don't own Twilight.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

"_Your back!"_

* * *

Letting down my guard I hesitantly put my arms around the small figure wrapped around me and patted her back. I wasn't used to this level of affection, I hadn't been held like this in nearly a century, and I wasn't sure if I remembered how to do this friend thing. I mirrored Alice's actions and held her tightly to me, it felt… nice, secure, like I was safe.

"I couldn't see if you were going to come back or not! Normally I don't even miss a cut finger in biology class, but I didn't know if you were gone for good. Everyone was upset of course, and they needed to hunt so I sent them off and decided to wait here to see if you would come back, which I wasn't sure you would! Do you have any idea how frustrating it was Bella?"

Slowing from her rant Alice pulled back from my waist, her hair tickling my chin as she did, to look at my face. The hopeful look on her face made me wonder why I had ever thought I could leave this family.

"You are staying aren't you? You're not going to leave again? Everyone will behave much better, and we'll send Tanya and Edward away for now if they bother you too much…"

"NO!" I burst out, interrupting Alice's monologue. "I'm staying, for as long as you'll have me. You don't have to send anyone away."

Alice's smile lit up the whole room and as I watched her I couldn't help but think how much easier things would be if they did send Tanya away, far away, maybe Antarctica…

Coming back from my day dream about Tanya isolated with penguins in the South Pole, I could see the burning curiosity in Alice's face, which she had held back just so long as she had confirmed I would be staying here again.

"Sooo," she drew out the word while pulling my hand and leading me up the stairs and into her room in a manner of seconds, "Are you going to tell me what happened with Edward before you went all Forest Gump on us and ran to god knows where?"

I could see a simple sorry wasn't going to be enough for Alice, so I stalled instead.

"Well I didn't actually run you know, I just jumped to another location." I mumbled as I walked towards her double bed situated in the middle of the room, I could only imagine what it was used for since none of the family members needed sleep.

"Yeah I've been meaning to ask you about that, what's with the hundreds of talents thing you have going on, I mean are you… hey no! No changing the subject! I want answers missy… unless of course they're too private and you don't want to share them with a practical stranger." Alice trailed off, looking away from me and acting hurt. She wandered over to her dresser and flopped down on the bench there, looking far too graceful for someone who had just flopped anywhere. She looked up at me from beneath her eyelashes and pouted, sniffing and looking like she was holding back tears.

_She would have made a terrible actress._ I couldn't help but think, but then remembered that she had successfully pretended to be a teenage human for decades and retracted my earlier thought.

"Alice, you know I don't consider you a stranger, you're the closest thing I've had to a friend in a century, and of course I'll tell you what happened earlier, it's just not easy for me to talk about."

Immediately looking appeased she brought her legs up under her and looked at me eagerly, waiting for my story.

Double-checking to hear if anyone else was in hearing range, I sat down on the bed and pulled my legs up hugging them to my chest. "Alice, I was seventeen years old when I was turned into a vampire, ninety one years ago. When I was human I moved with my family from Phoenix Arizona to Chicago in 1917."

Here she gasped. "But Bella, that means…"

"Please Alice, just let me finish," I interrupted, "I need to get this out, and it would be easier if you could just listen."

Nodding she zipped up her mouth and looked at me with her bright curious eyes.

"The upper class society threw us a welcoming party, it was held at the Mason mansion. I was a painfully shy child and didn't have many friends, preferring to spend my time wrapped up in a good book rather than entertaining potential suitors.

"When I arrived at the party, the first person that I met was a Mr. Edward Mason and his parents." I could see Alice bursting to interrupt, the smile lighting up her face was blurred as she bounced on her seat, holding her questions in.

"I knew nobody, the girls made age were more interested in dresses and boys and I found the snobbish and standoffish. I was a real klutz," here I smiled looking down at my knees, remembering all the times Edward had caught me as I fell, "I couldn't dance at all, two left feet and all that, but one boy wouldn't take no for an answer."

Alice stood up, smiling encouragingly at me, and came to sit by my side. I wouldn't tell her the whole story, I wasn't ready for that, but I would tell her part of it.

"He kept me upright for most of the night, though it must of cost him his toes and feet. After that night we became, friends."

Alice's smile dimmed at bit at the word friends, but didn't interrupt.

"Life became easier for me with him around, he warred off unwelcome suitors and became my confidante. He made the move to Chicago and my life much more than bearable and for the following months he became the most important person in my life."

This much was true, while Edward had courted me during that time period, he was first and foremost the best friend I had ever had. I had come to trust him with all of my secrets and private thoughts more than I would with my own mother.

I had almost forgotten Alice in the present, lost in my reminiscing. I smiled at her while my hands crept up to rest over my heart and stomach unconsciously as they always did when I remembered what had happened next.

"Then the Spanish flu swept over Chicago. Everywhere people were getting sick, rich, poor, no family was left untouched. My own was taken early in the outbreak. Sometimes I think I can remember what my parents looked like, what they were like with me. They were kind, I'm sure of that, but I wish I could remember them more.

"The Masons, God bless their souls, took me in," my first actual lie, at that point I had been married and living with Edward and a few months along in my pregnancy, but no good would come of Alice knowing that.

"My life had been spared, it seemed like I was immune to the sickness, perhaps to suffer a worse fate, watching those I loved around me perish. Edward Mason Senior fell ill to the Flu first, then the staff contracted it and spread it to Mrs. Mason and finally to their only child and my best friend. Edward."

I couldn't help but be taken back to those cloudy memories, of wiping the sweat from his pale brow and holding him upright as he coughed blood into a bowl, helpless, just like the doctors around us.

"His parents died leaving him alone in world, the same as me. We had nobody and he was getting sicker. I spent all my time in the hospital he had been moved to, to make it easier on the doctors, so they wouldn't have to travel out to the houses to treat the victims. Looking back I don't know if it might have been better, to keep him away from the other sick people, there were so many sick people Alice. The hospitals were overrun."

I looked up at her saddened face as my voice broke, the smell of death and sickness crystal clear in my nostrils, echoing back from all those years ago. It was one thing I would never forget. Being surrounded by death on a magnitude of that level left a mark on the soul. It wasn't something that you could just wash away, it was permanent.

"I wore myself out, trying to take care of him, trying to make him more comfortable. At the time, I was in a… fragile state of health, I couldn't really do anything to help. Exhausted and nearly at the point of fainting I begged a doctor to save him, to do everything that he could to save him from dying. They had put me in a cot next to his, so that I could stay with him throughout the night. I passed out over his bed holding a wet cloth to his forehead. When I woke up, alone, in my own cot, they told me they had taken him to the morgue."

I couldn't go on. I had never spoken of what had happened to me in my human life to anyone before. Letting it out, sharing it with Alice was bringing all of those buried feelings and memories back again. They were crashing over me like pounding waves, hitting me over and over again in my heart, gripping it in a vice and twisting it around cruelly.

Somehow telling somebody about the horror of my last memories as a human made them seem much more real, more concrete. While I was the only person who knew what had happened, it had been easier to pretend it didn't hurt, that it didn't happen.

But now Alice was looking at me, her face full of pity and sorrow, and she knew. And it wasn't just me alone anymore, keeping my secrets locked up so tight in my chest for so long that they had begun to eat me up from the inside out.

I was free. I had let it out. Dry sobbing I collapsed in her open arms, my breath catching in my throat and heaving as I let out a century's worth of pain and heartache in someone else's arms.

Alice didn't shush me, or tell me everything would be alright, she rubbed my back with one hand and hummed soothingly to me an unfamiliar tune, stroking my hair out of my face with her other hand. I had never been more grateful to have a friend like her. In my human and vampire life, I hadn't seen the necessity of having girl friends, of hanging around with people my own age, and it was only know I realised what I had been missing out on.

After some time I felt better, my heaving had slowed to normal breathing and I wrapped my arms around Alice for the second time today, but without the hesitation or worry this time.

I sat back up and smiled at her, she truly was a gem, Alice. I felt relatively calmer to finish the story now. Twisting my fingers around each other I continued with the conclusion of my sad pitiful human life.

"I inherited everything. I was rich, exceedingly and grossly wealthy. But it was all worth nothing without the people I loved in my life. For a few weeks I continued existing, the fragile state I was in worsened further as I wallowed in my misery, till there came a day when everything changed. I was visiting my parents and Edward's grave, grieving."

The word grieving seemed an understatement. I had howled, thrown over his tombstone, begging for him to return to me and his child.

"I wasn't aware of my surroundings, let alone anyone else in the graveyard. I was caught unprepared as the man attacked me from behind smothering my mouth with his hand as he bit and drank from my neck. So lost in my grieving it didn't even notice him till the burning started."

I grimaced, remembering the burning throughout my whole body, feeling as though I was tied to a burning stake, my body wreathed in hungry flames.

"When I came to, I was alone again. I was as you see me now. A vampire, a creature of the night. Forever to remember what I had loved and lost."

The seriousness and sadness of our talk was pressing on me and I found myself trying to lift it.

"So the last thing I expected when I bought this peaceful quiet house, was to find my Edward living in it with a coven of vegetarian vampires."

Alice snorted and looked at me with a sad smile. I decided to put her out of her misery.

"You can ask me questions now."

"Have you been alone all this time Bella?" I couldn't miss the sadness in her lovely voice.

"I travelled some, met some other vampires, took some classes, but yes. Essentially I've been alone, up till now."

She leaned over quickly and hugged me tightly again. "You won't ever be alone again Bella, I promise."

"Is that a guess or a prediction?" I teased.

"The truth," she stated seriously, "Do you know who changed you?"

My teasing manner was gone, "No, I never found out who it was, only that I know he was a guy, which isn't really much of a help."

"Well join the club, I don't remember anything before I woke up like this, only darkness." Alice frowned, her lips pursed together in a line.

Sensing the chance to change the topic, I asked. "Well enough about my sob story, tell me about you Alice. I hardly know anything about you. How did you end up with this lot?"

Smiling a little too knowingly, as if she could sense I didn't really like to talk about myself, Alice shrugged and said. "We'll go into that another time, the other are due back in a few minutes." Here my stomach flipped over, which I didn't know could happen as a vampire.

"Do you think they'll be mad Alice? I mean, I wasn't exactly the model of sanity the last time I was here…"

Alice placed her hand over my mouth and stopped me from rambling. "It'll be fine, we were just worried that we'd done something to upset you, though Edward and Tanya were weird afterwards. She went all jealous bitch on Edward, trying to stake her claim." Rolling her eyes at me, Alice got up and pranced over to her dresser.

Ah. Tanya. I had almost forgotten about her.

"And don't worry Bella, I'll keep this little heart to heart to myself, if you want to tell the others you can, in your own time, but they won't find out from me." She paused looking slightly nervous. "Do you know what you're going to do about Edward though? I think he's pretty confused about what happened, maybe you guys should talk, or not!" She added taking my sour expression as a negative reaction towards her suggestion.

However, the furthest I had gotten to plan anything concerning Edward, was to win him back. _Genius Bella, Stellar plan, foolproof!_

"I'm going to talk to him Alice, I just don't have any idea what I'm going to say. I mean there isn't really a protocol for this kind of thing you know? _What to say to your best friend after thinking he was dead for almost a century, only to find he's a vampire. _Basically I'm just winging it here."

"Not to worry then, you seem to be doing fine, er, _winging_ it, I'm sure it'll all work out in about thirty-seven seconds." Alice reassured me as she walked back over to me and clipped up half of my hair on top of my head.

"Thirty-seven seconds?" I asked amused as I admired my new hairdo.

"Well now it's actually thirty-four and they'll be coming through the back door." She shrugged and looked at my clothes disapprovingly. "I have just the thing!" Only a second passed as she darted to her enormous wardrobe, rifled through what was sure to be hundreds of outfits and stopped in front of me holding out a flowing casual purple dress.

It was beautiful, and sure to be very expensive. I hadn't bothered to keep up with the latest fashions throughout the years. I had always seen clothes as a trivial need.

"Please Bella, it'll be a perfect fit and I just want you to look pretty. You don't really want Edward to see you again in that do you?"

I looked down at my clothes confused, an old tattered pair of jeans and a large jacket that covered all of my curves from curious eyes, finished off with a pair of sneakers from the 90's. What was wrong with these clothes?

But Alice seemed to be something of an expert when it came to fashion so I decided to follow her instruction and three seconds later I was dressed in her ridiculously priced dress, I had seen the price tag still attached. Still I had to admit, the dress made me feel pretty, which was a first in a very long time.

"Alice, dare I ask why you have a dress that is clearly too big for you in your wardrobe that costs a small fortune and still has the price tag on?"

She paused as she rummaged through her vast shoe collection, looking guilty. "Well, er, when I ordered your new furniture for you room, or Edward's room, no it's your room now, he can clear off, I sort of took the liberty of ordering you a new wardrobe as a welcoming gift, because, well Bella, your sense of fashion is kinda off. But don't worry, Rose and I will take you shopping in Port Angeles for some things you like as well. But you don't hate the dress that much do you?" Pouting again she came at me with a gorgeous pair of strappy sandals.

Laughing I took the sandals from her and put them on my feet. Not surprisingly they fit perfectly. "I love the dress Alice, clothes just haven't been my biggest priority over the years."

She gave me her sad smile again, "Well that's going to change now that you're staying with us. Come on, let's go downstairs and get this over with."

As she led me downstairs I could feel my nerves return full force. What would I say? What if despite what Alice said, they wanted me to leave? Was I prepared to see Edward again? Let alone with Tanya?

_You can do this. You're strong enough to handle this._

"And with five seconds to spare," Alice laughed.

I could hear them running through the forest now, seven pairs of feet lightly hitting the ground.

I looked at Alice, my face betraying how nervous I was and she squeezed my hand in comfort. I squeezed hers back tightly and she winced. "Sorry." I mouthed.

They were coming through the backyard and I took a deep breath, trying to catch a whiff of Edward's scent on the air. I was not disappointed. Nostalgia swept over me as his familiar yet new scent assaulted my nose. With one last look at Alice, I turned to face the large back door, which acted as a huge window opening up to the backyard.

And there he was, running behind the others, looking down at his feet, his expression sad and confused. And suddenly it was 1917 all over again, seeing him for the first time. Again. My chest tightened and my stomach dropped, but I didn't have time to settle myself as the family was coming through the doors now and were looking at me hesitantly.

I refused to make eye contact with Edward again as he looked up and saw me next to Alice, I wouldn't be able to talk properly while looking at him, and I needed to apologise.

Looking from Carlisle to Esme, to Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper, I cleared my already clear throat.

"I just wanted to apologise for before. I was caught off guard and didn't expect, well I didn't expect," my eyes flashed to Edward who was staring at me again and then Tanya as she glared at me. "I behaved appallingly, and I hope that you can forgive me my transgression and will still allow me to stay with you."

The room was silent for a second as they processed my words and then Esme came forward and wrapped her arms around me.

"There's nothing to forgive Bella, your reasons are your own, and I speak for all of us when I say that it would be a pleasure for you to stay with us, well, in your home, for as long as you like." She stood back smiling at me, and I could see her happiness mirrored in Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper's faces, while Rosalie looked bored, Tanya looked furious and Edward looked… lost.

I smiled at all of them, amazed at how easily they had accepted me back after my psychopathic episode.

Jasper crossed the room and took Alice in his arms and they exchanged a knowing look. They seemed to balance each other out. "It looks like you guys can read the other's thoughts," I joked.

Jasper's golden eyes flashed to mine as he leant over and kissed Alice on her forehead. "Not quite, Edward's the mind reader of the family. There are no secrets between anyone when he's around."

_What?_

"What?!"

Oh no, this is very bad. Was my shield up? Did he see everything? Oh God, this is bad.

I felt his presence behind me as the others filtered out of the room to change out of their hunting clothes. Alice was practically dragging Tanya up the stairs, claiming that she needed her advice on an outfit and whether it was suitable to wear to school. I turned to face him, biting my lip anxiously, trying very hard not to think about anything. _Maybe now that you've seen him and got over the initial shock, you won't be as dazzled by him. You'll be cool, calm and collected._

Nope. As soon as I saw him again, I couldn't help but be struck by his beauty with the force of a freight truck. Would this feeling never go away? And did I want it to?

He opened his mouth to talk to me, and my stomach clenched particularly hard. _Please let his voice be the same!_

"Hello."

I gasped internally, it was the same, the same voice I fell in love with, if not a little huskier. And he was looking at me with his dazzling smile, the smile he used when he wanted something.

"My name is Edward, I didn't have a chance to introduce myself before you left earlier. You must be Bella." He held out his hand for me to take and I smiled back at him, the one where I bit my lip and looked at him from beneath my eyelashes, and shook his hand. I could clearly hear his breath catch in his throat.

"It's good to see you again Edward," damn, why couldn't my voice be steadier instead of all breathy like a schoolgirl with a crush? "I'm sorry I we didn't speak before I left."

We stared at each other, our hands lingering, unwilling to stop the handshake that was sending electric shots up my arm and lighting my body on fire, and with any luck was doing the same to Edwards. His golden eyes held me captive and I found myself staring into them, wondering what they had seen over the years without me. He seemed sadder, more serious. Not like the carefree boy I had known and loved. But he was Edward and I would love him no matter what he was.

"Tell me Bella, what are you thinking? It's killing me not to know."

Relief. I let out a sigh, he couldn't read my thoughts, my shield wasn't faulty.

"Nothing important Edward, my thoughts aren't all that interesting." _If only you knew what I was thinking Edward my darling._ I thought as I admired his strong jawbone, one of the slight changes immortality had given him.

"I highly doubt that Bella, I find you fascinating." His hand was now rubbing small circles into mine, sending up sparks from his fingertips, as he looked down at our joined hands I knew he could feel it too, all the chemistry that remained between us even after all these years. I knew now was the time to figure out what he remembered of me and how I was going to approach winning him back.

"Edward, do you think we could go somewhere to talk?" I asked smiling up at him.

Momentarily he looked stunned at me, his eyes fixated on my lips, before he shook his head minutely, and smiled back at me. "I'd like that Bella, I have the strangest feeling I know you from somewhere. Like you're from a dream. Is that crazy?"

_Not a complete lost cause then,_ I thought to myself but some small part of me cried out, sure that he would remember me and everything we'd had together as humans.

"Not crazy Edward," I couldn't help the sadness that had crept into my voice, "I can fix that though."

Grasping my hand tighter in his, he led me out the back door, which he had entered earlier, and began to run through the backyard and into the surrounding forest.

I didn't worry about where we were headed, I followed Edward as he gracefully dodged trees and roots, guiding me along with him. I would follow him anywhere, _I'll go wherever you will go._

**The longest chapter ever! To the awesome people that actually still read this story, you rock my world hard. Life is messy and so my writing is too, but it's going to get better. I hope. Hearing what you think of my work tickles me purple.**

**Xxx Ciao Dolly**


	14. Chapter 13

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 13

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: I wish jellyfish.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

We had been running for only seconds when I was distracted by Edward's fluid stride. He was so graceful, so sleek, so inhuman. This was going to take some getting used to.

He looked like he belonged here, among the wet ferns and towering trees, all covered in green and brown. I could see by his posture that he felt at home here, surrounded by the forest, he was timeless in this place, maybe as old as some of these trees.

The smell of the forest changed in my nostrils as we continued on through the wet undergrowth which began to thin out until the trees stopped altogether and we came into a clearing.

My breath caught in my throat. Perfectly round, the meadow was filled with beautiful wildflowers scattered in random patterns. I knew that in the sunlight this place would be stunning, it was beautiful now with the storm clouds hanging over our heads like angry thought bubbles.

Edward walked slowly to the centre of the meadow as I took in sight of him relaxed surrounded by the yellow and blue flowers and sit down among them.

He looked over his shoulder at me still on the fringes of the clearing and smiled his crooked grin at me, patting the spot next to him for me to sit.

My heart clenched painfully, how many times had Edward taken me on romantic picnics in the parks near our house? Too many to count for sure. The all too familiar sight was nearly my undoing, and I had to physically restrain myself from throwing myself across the clearing at him, forcing myself to instead smile back weakly and slowly walk across the space between us and sit by his side, not close enough for our sides to brush but closer than a friend would.

We sat there side by side, not speaking, just taking in the magic of this private perfect place. It was easy to pretend if I closed my eyes, that we were back in Chicago, having a picnic in the park across the street on a Sunday afternoon, but I knew the silence couldn't last.

Despite his relaxed frame, I could tell Edward was tense, out the corner of my eye I saw that he would run his fingers through his hair every few minutes, a sure sign he was nervous about something, and it wasn't hard to figure out why.

I realised then that I would have to take baby steps with Edward if I wanted a chance to be a part of his life again, I needed to ease him into trusting me, I could easily scare him off if I wasn't careful with what I told him. I needed to know what he remembered of being human.

I turned to look at him face on at the same time he turned to look at me, opening his mouth to speak. Smiling at him, i nodded for him to continue.

His golden eyes held mine and the look of confusion that crossed his face made me want to wrap my arms around him, but I doubted that was really helping the easing him into the leaving Tanya and loving me plan.

"Bella, i don't pretend to understand any of this, but I feel... drawn to you. It might sound odd to you but it's almost like I know you from somewhere, like de javu. That I know you, and somehow you know me. I'm not making any sense," he began to ramble quickly, "I just can't explain it, I don't understand, I've never felt like this before."

I cut him off before he could go any further. "Edward," I laid my hand on his arm, trying to calm him, but at the same time feeling the jolt of familiar energy between us. "I understand, it's okay." I caught his eye and smiled at him reassuringly, needing him to be calm for what I was going to tell him.

"Tell me, what do you remember of your human life?" I asked biting my lip.

Edward's brow creased for a second before looking back up at me frowning. "Almost nothing, I remember my mother, sort of. And a house, I think I lived there, it had a porch and swing and it was painted a light blue with white shutters, I think there was someone waiting for me, but it's blurry. It's all I have to go on, and Carlisle told me some things about my past, things about my family and the way I grew up, and that I was very loved in my human life but that's it."

_I won't cry, I won't cry. _I told myself as he spoke. He had just described the little cottage we had bought when we got married, right down to the shutters.How could he remember the shutters but not me? It wasn't fair, hadn't I suffered enough for this lifetime?

I could see him waiting for me to respond, but I needed a minute to think.

Was I that unforgettable? He had been the most important part of my life, he still was, and I hadn't forgotten a single moment we had spent together. Did I mean so little to him that he could forget me just like that and start over with a new life and a new family? What about our baby?

He had told me time and time again that I was his world, his entire existence, and that he couldn't bear to live without me, but how could that have been true, when he had turned around and forgotten me and shacked up with some blond vampire as soon as I was out of the picture?

_There has to be a reason._ My subconscious told me. _Some explanation for him to forget me. _But it would have to wait for later, because Edward needed me now, he needed to understand why he vaguely felt like he'd known me from somewhere.

I looked back up at him to find him staring down at my face in concern, probably wondering why I looked like someone had just run over my cat.

"I should start then maybe by saying that you were very loved Edward, just like Carlisle said." I had loved him with my entire being. "When you were seventeen Edward, before the Influenza, my family and myself moved from Arizona to Chicago." his face transformed as he listened to my words, realising that I had been a part of his past as a human, I quickly looked away into the forest.

"There was a family within high society that threw us a welcoming party," I paused wondering how I should proceed while biting my lip anxiously, "They had a son my age that was home from school. That boy became my best friend, he was... very dear to me, he brought me out of myself and the walls I had built around me, he showed me that I could have the world and everything in it, just by being with him.

"He was the most important part of my life, and that never went away, not even when he died in the Influenza, not even when I died and became a vampire."

I hadn't been looking at Edward's face as I spoke, not wanting to see any more of his reactions to my confession, but now I couldn't help but look to see if he had made the connection, maybe through some dim memory or guessed that it was the only explanation for my behaviour the first time we met.

What I found there confused me, Edward looked eager and hopeful but what could also be slightly disappointed? I didn't know what I was expecting but it wasn't disappointed. Why was he disappointed?

I knew I'd have to say it out loud though, say that he was the boy that had changed my world, the one I hadn't been able to let go of even after almost a century had past.

"I had resigned myself Edward, to living through this life alone. I didn't want or need anyone to replace him, the boy I lost. But I never thought... I never thought I'd find him again." Here Edward broke out into a smile that lit up his whole face and my breath caught to see him so ecstatic.

"And it never crossed my mind that he could be the same as me, alive and healthy and right before my eyes." I let a bright smile steal over my face, and raised my hand to stroke his cheek with the back of it.

"Bella." He whispered, smiling into my eyes.

Once again it was easy to believe that everything was alright now, that in this moment everything was perfect, and no one else existed beyond our little bubble. But I could see that he had questions for me, and I had nothing but answers for him.

"Will you tell me Bella? I want to know..." he pleaded grabbing my hand and holding it to his cheek. "I want to know everything about you, about us, about me when I was human. I wish that I could remember, I can't understand how I don't, but please let me get to know you again Bella, I want you in my life, however I can keep you. I can feel that we're supposed to be part of each other's lives and I'll be whatever you need me to be, just please, stay with me, help me." He finished, his pleading eyes never leaving mine, trapping them and pulling me deeper and deeper into his words and him.

I could feel myself leaning closer to his body, an unconscious action, I was ecstatic and couldn't help but want to be nearer to him.

Edward wanted me! He didn't want to push me away or tell me that the past was in the past and that it should stay there and that I should move on. He wanted to know me again and be part of my life. It was everything I could have hoped for, almost the best case scenario. I wouldn't let this victory be spoiled with thoughts of Tanya.

"Of course I'll stay with you Edward, I don't think I could leave you again if I tried, you're stuck with me," I took my hand off his cheek as he relaxed and playfully shoved at his shoulder, beaming at him.

"Good, Alice told me that you were back to stay but I needed to hear you say it, and I didn't know if I'd scare you away again out here."

I was momentarily confused. "Alice told you? When?"

Edward shifted looking a little uncomfortable, "Well er, she actually just thought it and I picked it up from her mind."

"Ahhhh the mind reading, that's pretty nifty, although I shouldn't be surprised that reading people is a talent of yours, you were exceptionally observant as a human after all." I nodded as I lay back against the grass resting my head on my arms crossed above me watching the storm clouds gather around us, threatening us with rain.

"Really? What else was I like? I only know what Carlisle said I was like in the hospital before he changed me."

If I had any blood in my body it would have run cold, as it was my body stiffened up at his words. I'd hadn't thought too much about who might have changed Edward but I had assumed that they had taken off much like my own creator, not stick around and bring them up in the world like a family of their own.

_Carlisle had changed Edward?_ I didn't understand, how and when and why?

Edward had noticed that I had frozen up and he looked concerned as he lay down next to me.

"Carlisle was the one to change you into a vampire?" My voice broke on the last word.

"Yes, he was a doctor in the hospital where I was dying, I don't, I don't know, where you there?" Edward looked confused by this turn of events, not realising that this news would affect me so much.

"Yes. Yes I was there. I was the one looking after you for days and days, never leaving your side." The thunder rumbled above us and lightning lit up the sky.

I was shocked, desperately trying to remember the faces of the doctors who had passed me and checked on Edward as I tried to take care of him, but I couldn't recall them properly, I had been too focussed on the dying boy in front of me. I remembered grabbing one pleading with them to do everything they could to save Edward, had that been Carlisle? Had he listened to my words and done everything that he could to save my husband even if it meant turning him into a creature of the night?

A new thought struck me. Had I been the reason Edward was turned into a vampire? Was it my fault? Had I caused this? A million thoughts were racing around my head.

Would Edward have died if he didn't become a vampire? Would he have lived? Would I have been turned into a vampire if I hadn't been mourning at his grave? Would my baby have lived if I hadn't grabbed that doctor?

I started gasping for air, my body panicking as the first drops of rain hit my face.

_What had I done?_

**Want to know what was going through Edward's head in this chapter? Let me know and I'll do the chapter from his POV, and update pronto. You lovely loyal people that continue to read my story tickle me orange. **

**Ciao Dolly xx**


	15. Chapter 14

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 14

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. If I owned Twilight, it wouldn't be safe for young children to read.**

**WARNING EDWARD'S POV!**

**READ THIS: This chapter is Edward's point of view of the last chapter, if you do not want to know what Edward was thinking, this chapter can just be skipped and the story will pick up in Bella's point of view next chapter, you won't miss anything.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

EPOV

I had no idea what to make of the beautiful creature running with me through the forest. She had come into my life like a hurricane, blowing me away and sucking me back in. I could only hope to remain in the eye of her storm, but I couldn't help but wonder when she would spit me back out when she was done with me.

_When would she leave again? _

Alice had been thinking about the conversation that they had had about her staying, but what if she changed her mind again?

_She'll never leave if I can help it._

Somehow I knew that I needed to be with her, to be around her, to know everything about her. Bella was an enigma to me. Her thoughts were hidden from me, the only ones that I was desperate to hear. To know what she thought about what happened today. And about me.

That moment we had shared in the family room earlier had left my head spinning. I couldn't understand it, I felt drawn to her in an impossible way, it was as though every nerve and cell inside my cold body was crying out for her, was lit on fire by her very presence. But she felt so familiar to me, like I had known her in a past life. Having her hand on my cheek had set my frozen body on fire, as though my body knew hers and was crying out for her.

And then she had left. Without saying a word. I wanted more than anything to hear her voice, just one word.

It was strange, never in my memory as a vampire, could I recall ever feeling one tenth of the fire, the passion and the draw she had inspired in me with just one look. I had spent nearly the past century with my family whom I was closer to than any other person in this world, but my sudden and irrational connection to Bella far outshone my ties to my family.

Sneaking glances at her now out of the corner of my eye, I could tell that she was my embodiment of female perfection. I had always had a clear picture in my mind of what true beauty was, and I had never found a person, human or vampire that had ever measured up to the ideal in my head.

_Bella is my ideal._

The long lines of her neck enticed me, even though I knew there was no blood flowing through her veins. Her eyes, golden like mine, were deep wells brimming with emotion, my only clue as to what she was thinking as I introduced myself to her. Her face was lovely, her high cheekbones and straight nose reminded me of a Botticelli angel, and her cascading hair making me want to run my fingers through it.

When Bella had asked to talk to me, I knew exactly where I would take her. It was my own private sanctuary, the rest of my family knew it was special to me and avoided intruding upon it. It was where I went to think when I was troubled. And lately I had been troubled a lot.

But I wanted to share this with Bella, wanted to share a part of who I was with her in the hopes that she would do the same with me. The maddening sense that I knew her from somewhere was driving me mad. When she had left suddenly, and I had gone to hunt, I had run through every face I had ever seen and every thought I had ever heard trying to place where I knew her from. I could only hope that she would be able to provide me with some answers.

I could see the lightness of the meadow ahead, and felt Bella next to me spot it also and shift minutely towards it recognising it as our destination.

Seconds later we entered the clearing and I could hear Bella catch her breath at the sight. I knew exactly how she felt, the first time I had stumbled across this meadow, I had been overcome by its wild natural beauty, and over the years I had taken out some of the trees around the outside making it perfectly round, and clearing the area of fallen trunks and debris. The finished result was stunning, if I did say so myself.

Walking slowly to my usual spot in the centre I could see a small smile gracing Bella's face, and I was ecstatic that she found joy in a place where I was so at home. Even now, despite my overwhelming curiosity I could feel myself relax, as though a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

I watched Bella take in the meadow for a second before sitting down and gesturing for her to join me. A flash of pain crossed Bella's face for a fraction of a second before she hid it behind a wall of iron and she smiled unconvincingly at me and moved across the grass to sit beside me.

She sat close enough for me to be able to smell her skin, an intoxicating mixture of freesia, honey and sunlight.

_Delicious._

She was nearly as appealing as the smell of human blood, good enough to eat.

I looked across at her to see that her eyes were closed and she was smiling to herself. More than anything I wanted to be able to hear what she was thinking about to give her such a peaceful expression. I ran my fingers through my hair, focussing hard on her mind, but hearing nothing.

Why couldn't I hear her thoughts? Why was she so different?

I didn't understand any of this, how I knew Bella, how I felt about her, and what she now meant to me. And how did I talk to her about this, how I felt? I was going to sound completely insane.

I turned to look down at her face to find her turning to me, and the question on my lips died as I looked into her deep golden eyes and I couldn't help but wonder what colour they would have been when she was a human. Bella smiled at me and nodded as if to say, ask me your questions. She was letting me take the lead, letting me control the encounter.

I couldn't understand her, not her mind, not her actions, or why I felt more at peace in her presence than I had at any time in the past century.

"Bella, I don't pretend to understand any of this, but I feel... drawn to you. It might sound odd to you but it's almost like I know you from somewhere, like de javu. That I know you, and somehow you know me. I'm not making any sense." I could tell that I sounded insane, and she was probably wondering how to get away from the delusional vampire that had almost jumped her in front of his entire family the first time that they met. "I just can't explain it, I don't understand, I've never felt like this before."

And now I wouldn't shut up, god, could I sound anymore like a stalker? This was quickly going downhill.

"Edward."

I felt her small hand rest on my arm and a jolt of energy passing through her and into me. I took a deep breath, taking in her fragrance as well as the smells of the forest, and looked to find her smiling at me, not frowning or showing obvious signs of planning a quick getaway.

"I understand, it's okay. Tell me, what do you remember of your human life?" Bella asked me, her expression anxious as she bit her lip.

_My human life? What did that have to do with anything?_

The few memories I had of my past life were scattered and few, and the quality of them was unclear at best. I told Bella so, "Almost nothing, I remember my mother, sort of. And a house, I think I lived there, it had a porch and swing and it was painted a light blue with white shutters, I think there was someone waiting for me, but it's blurry. It's all I have to go on, and Carlisle told me some things about my past, things about my family and the way I grew up, and that I was very loved in my human life but that's it."

I had spent hours as a vampire trying to remember my human life. Whether I was happy, whether I had had friends, people who would miss me besides my parents, but try as I may, there always seemed to be a block around the memories, something that prevented my access to them.

Carlisle had told me all he could, but before I had contracted the flu I had never met him before, so his insight as to what I was like as a human was limited.

I wanted to know why Bella asked me about my human life. Did she somehow know something about my past life, could she shed some light onto my history? I looked at her face to find her staring at the ground, her face scrunched up, looking for all the world as though she was holding back tears.

Had I said something to upset her? Was she upset that I couldn't remember my past? She was the most confusing creature I had ever come across. If only I could hear what she was thinking!

I wanted to comfort her, but I was afraid that anything I would say would make it worse. It seemed I couldn't do anything right by Bella.

She made an effort to control her face and looked into my eyes. "I should start then maybe by saying that you were very loved Edward, just like Carlisle said."

I could see the sincerity in her eyes, and I knew that Bella wasn't lying to me, and the only way she could of known that I was loved, was if she had been there when I was human.

"When you were seventeen Edward, before the Influenza, my family and myself moved from Arizona to Chicago."

Bella had been part of my life! I had hardly let this information settle before she was speaking again.

"There was a family within high society that threw us a welcoming party." Bella paused again, I wondered if she too had difficulty remembering her human life, or had she been a vampire at that time, living with another family. This thought made me surprisingly mad.

"They had a son my age that was home from school. That boy became my best friend, he was... very dear to me, he brought me out of myself and the walls I had built around me, he showed me that I could have the world and everything in it, just by being with him."

Could she mean me? I knew from Carlisle that my family had been wealthy, if it was me that Bella referred to then I could find out all about my past, and hopefully have Bella in my life. _Please let it be me, tell me that there is a reason for the way I've been feeling about you._ I begged Bella internally.

"He was the most important part of my life, and that never went away, not even when he died in the Influenza, not even when I died and became a vampire."

I had died in the Influenza, technically that is. My heart stopped beating, and it went down in the records that I had died in the hospital, with only Carlisle knowing that I had been changed into a vampire. And Bella had been human also, how was it that she could remember but I could not?

I couldn't help but be slightly disappointed, Bella had said that she had been best friends with the boy in her story, and that he had been dear to her. But that didn't match the way I felt about Bella, the way I felt I knew her better than I knew myself, and the desire to be around her forever. Was it possible that I could only ever have had platonic feelings for Bella as a human?

"I had resigned myself Edward, to living through this life alone. I didn't want or need anyone to replace him, the boy I lost. But I never thought... I never thought I'd find him again."

Relief. Joy. It could only be me, I had known Bella as a human, and this connection I felt to her wasn't the result of madness, but the strength of our friendship from nearly a century ago. I couldn't stop the grin that crossed my face. I couldn't remember a time when I had ever felt this happy.

"And it never crossed my mind that he could be the same as me, alive and healthy and right before my eyes."

What were the chances that both of us would be turned into vampires and then reunite in the tiny town of Forks after all this time.

Bella smiled at me and raised her hand to my face, mirroring her actions from earlier, the trial of fire she left down my cheek gave me hope that maybe just because we had been friends as humans, didn't mean we couldn't be more to each other as vampires. I needed her in my life, now that I knew she existed, that I could feel this way, and that I could learn about my past, I couldn't let her go.

"Bella." I loved the way her name sounded as it rolled off my tongue.

"Will you tell me Bella? I want to know..." I grabbed the hand on my cheek and pressed it harder there, needing to reassure myself that she was real, and here with me. "I want to know everything about you, about us, about me when I was human. I wish that I could remember, I can't understand how I don't, but please let me get to know you again Bella, I want you in my life, however I can keep you. I can feel that we're supposed to be part of each other's lives and I'll be whatever you need me to be, just please, stay with me, help me."

I sounded desperate even to myself, but if it made her stay with me, I would beg. Bella was still smiling though, and she leaned towards me ever so slightly.

"Of course I'll stay with you Edward, I don't think I could leave you again if I tried, you're stuck with me." But she took her hand off my face and playfully shoved my shoulder, a very friend like gesture. I wanted to capture her hand again and bring back the closeness between us. But I would take it slow with her.

"Good, Alice told me that you were back to stay but I needed to hear you say it, and I didn't know if I'd scare you away again out here."

I was surprised she wasn't running for the hills after my scary declarations. But maybe on the other hand she was used to it, maybe she knew everything about me, why I acted and thought the way I did.

A crease appeared on her forehead, a sign I was quickly learning meant that she was confused.

"Alice told you? When?"

I then realised my blunder, Alice had told me no such thing, I had been so desperate to learn what they had discussed while the rest of the family and myself were hunting, that I had quickly searched Alice's thoughts for clues. I had found her surprisingly blank, with her only thinking how glad she was that Bella had decided to stay again.

"Well er, she actually just thought it and I picked it up from her mind."

Would Bella be mad at the intrusion upon her conversation with Alice, I made a note to myself to make an effort to avoid all the thoughts of the people around me, not that I needed to avoid Bella's, she was always blank to me. I wondered if this had something to do with knowing her as a human, or if she was just gifted.

"Ahhhh the mind reading, that's pretty nifty, although I shouldn't be surprised that reading people is a talent of yours, you were exceptionally observant as a human after all."

Bella lay back against the grass, watching the gathering storm. I took in what she had said, I had been observant as a human, that fitted with Carlisle's theory that we had each brought our strengths into the next life. I was suddenly anxious to know more about my human self.

"Really? What else was I like? I only know what Carlisle said I was like in the hospital before he changed me."

At the end of my sentence Bella stiffened on the ground where she lay. I had done it again. It seemed everything I said made Bella upset or uncomfortable, without even realising it. What had I said to make her react so badly?

"Carlisle was the one to change you into a vampire?" Bella asked her voice unsteady.

Did Bella have a problem with Carlisle? He had essentially saved me after all.

"Yes, he was a doctor in the hospital where I was dying, I don't, I don't know, where you there?"

I could suddenly understand that Bella would be upset if she had known Carlisle. But wouldn't Carlisle have told me if he knew Bella as a human?

"Yes. Yes I was there. I was the one looking after you for days and days, never leaving your side."

My stomach dropped as thunder rumbled overhead mirroring the gloomy atmosphere that had settled over the meadow. Clearly Bella was deeply upset by this turn of events. Bella had been there as I was dying? Caring for me as I wasted away, never to get better. I couldn't imagine what that must have felt like. Watching me die.

And for all she knew all these years I had been. I had no memories of us being friends, but I had always felt a sense of loss as a vampire which I had always associated that with my actual human life, the loss of a heartbeat, at the chance of a normal human life. But maybe some part of my subconscious was remembering how happy I had been with Bella. I couldn't imagine ever feeling unhappy around her, she lit up the world around me, I could tell that just by spending a few hours with her. I didn't need a lifetime of memories to tell me that I belonged with Bella.

But Bella had had a lifetime of memories, memories of loss, maybe I had gotten the better end of the deal, never remembering all the happy times that I had had, to dwell upon them for eternity.

But now Bella was gasping for air as she lay next to me as though she couldn't breathe. What did I do? Was she having a panic attack? The rain started to fall around us as I picked her up in my arms, determined to get her to Carlisle, he would know what to do. I had never seen a vampire go into shock before but I knew that Bella needed help.

**Well there you go, Edward's point of view. Not my best chapter by a long shot. I found this pretty hard to write.**

I'm a bad person I know! No excuses, just lazy, not updating soon enough and I apologise. I'll try and have the next chapter up soon. Thankyou to all who are reading and enjoying the story still, your patience is appreciated. Let me know what you thought of Edward?

Ciao Dolly xxx


	16. Chapter 15

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 15

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: I disclaim owning any part of Twilight.**

**Thanks for the patience.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

It was my fault that Edward had been turned into a vampire. If I hadn't begged that doctor to save him, he would have remained human. Maybe he would have lived, recovered from the flu, and we could have gone home, I could have had my baby and we would have been a happy family. Alive, healthy and human.

I had taken all those things from Edward.

I could barely register the fact that I was moving through the forest. The trees and the wet earth passed me by and I realised that Edward was carrying m in his arms.

How many times had this very man carried me like this? How many twisted ankles, sprained toes and broken toes had given him cause to hoist me up into his arms and press my body into his chest. That thought only heightened my distress, and even though I didn't need to inhale the air around me, I found comfort in the old habit once again.

It could only have been seconds later when the house came into view and Edward was calling Carlisle's name in a panicked tone.

Edward was through the back door and up the stairs into Carlisle's study, laying me down on the couch, where Carlisle was waiting, a serious expression on his face.

"What happened to her Edward?"

"I have no idea, we were talking about Chicago and how I was changed into a vampire, then she started hyperventilating. I think she's in shock, is that even possible for a vampire?"

I could hear their words and the concern behind them but I had no control over my actions, I couldn't make my body move, I was immobilised by my despair at the thought that I had cost Edward his humanity.

I could see Carlisle shining a light into my eyes and hear him asking me questions but I was beyond answering and reassuring them.

After a few minutes of these tests, Edward started to become more panicked by my lack of response. I wanted to ease his worrying but I couldn't bring myself to move even my lips.

Carlisle finally called for Emmett and Jasper to take Edward from the room, who struggled with them in an attempt to stay, telling Carlisle that he didn't want to leave me and that he was responsible.

My poor Edward, always claiming responsibility for things that were beyond his control, this was all my fault, I had done this to myself. Often had I wondered who was to blame for this life, but now I could see that my actions had led Edward and I to this point.

Edward left the room, convinced by Carlisle that I needed to be left alone.

Without Edward there in the room I could feel my breathing slowing while Carlisle knelt beside me staring thoughtfully at my face. It took a long while for me to regain control of my body and in that time I studied the man next to me.

He had changed the love of my existence into a vampire, efficiently separating us for nearly a century. Could he have known that Edward was married and that I was with child when he changed him? Was he the one who had changed and left me? Was he the reason the Edward didn't remember me? If he didn't change Edward would we have lived happily ever after?

All of these questions I needed answering, but we stayed there in his study until the sky grew dark outside, and I could hear some of the family downstairs discussing how they would explain Edward and Tanya's appearance at the school. Was it possible that I had only missed one day of school? That my life had been so drastically altered in such a small time seemed impossible to me.

Esme had led the others out to and around the large backyard until they were out of earshot, wanting to show Edward and Tanya the new improvements she had made and the plans for a water fountain to be added.

The silence between us stretched out as we studied each other. It was a contrast to the noise of a hundred panicked thoughts being processed in my head.

"Would he have died if you hadn't changed him?"

Maybe I could find some sense of relief if he would have. That things would have progressed the same way in that I would be mourning by his grave and I would have been turned into a vampire, with the exception that now instead of finding him here, he would be decaying in the ground.

If he would have died, maybe it was the best thing for me to do, now that we were reunited, and I was determined that no matter how long it took, he would love me again, and we had all of eternity to be together.

"Yes."

My eyes momentarily closed with emotion, I didn't know if I was sad or relieved, but they focussed on Carlisle's face as he spoke again.

"You were there."

It wasn't a question, he knew.

"When you showed up at the house the other day, I couldn't place you in any of my memories, but I was sure that I knew you."

_Did you also know I was pregnant with his child? _Was this man cruel enough to make a man immortal, forever separating him from his family?

"You looked so different from how you are now, you were so worn out from taking care of Edward.

"The nurses told me that you never left his side, that you were the most dedicated sister they had ever seen."

My heart dropped down into my stomach. _Sister?_

Carlisle watched my face, as I remembered what I had done long ago, to get the hospital staff to let me stay by Edward's side, telling them that he was my brother. When nobody had believed that we were married at such a young age, they wouldn't let anybody but direct family in to stay with the sick. That and a hefty sum, allowed me to be with Edward in what I thought were his final moments.

"When Edward and Tanya arrived from Alaska and the way you reacted when you saw him, I knew that you couldn't be siblings. In 1917, when you begged me to save him, I thought I was fulfilling the wishes of a sister, who was already beyond hope. I saw that you were pregnant, and knew I couldn't change you. Two newborns would have been too difficult for me to manage at any rate, and changing you would have been the death of your child."

It still hurt to think of my baby and to hear him mentioned with such ease by a stranger, but now I knew wasn't him then, he hadn't been the one to make me a vampire. I could tell he was sincere in the way he told me that he would never kill an unborn child so far along in the pregnancy. I could not hold him accountable for separating a brother and sister, maybe if he had known Edward was my husband he wouldn't have changed him, and I would be a vampire alone.

"When you left the house, you can't imagine the guilt I felt. Back then I thought that I would only be separating siblings and an uncle from your baby. I can't tell you how much sorry I am for what I did. I was selfish Bella, I had been alone so long… And he was dying, believe me when I say that there was no hope for him to recover. And then you begged me to do everything _I_ could to save him. I had often wondered about creating a companion, and I took it as a sign that it was meant to happen. Maybe I was wrong." He dropped his head down into his hands and ran his fingers through his hair, I couldn't help but wonder if he had picked up that habit from Edward. I could see how much this was hurting Carlisle, and felt sorry for him and felt his anguish. I knew what it was like to be all alone in the world. I knew then that he wasn't to blame for what had happened between Edward and myself.

"You didn't know Carlisle, we both made mistakes."

He looked up at me and I hoped he could see the forgiveness in my eyes.

I could hear the others returning from the garden, Edward in the lead.

"At least now we have the chance to make it right again," I said putting my hand on his arm.

He gave me a warm smile and quickly zoned back into doctor mode. "Do you feel all right now? Any dizziness?"

"I'm fine, I think I went into shock, but I'll be alright now."

Edward was making his way up the stairs and he knocked on the door before he let himself in. The relief was clear to see on his face as he crossed the room and knelt beside me as Carlisle stood and moved towards the door.

He reached his hand out towards my face but hesitated before our skin touched.

"I was worried about you."

I smiled at him, and leaned my face into his palm, feeling the familiar jolt to my heart. "I think it was all too much at once for me to take in. I'm okay now."

A second pair of footsteps on the stairs made me turn away from Edward to see Tanya sweep into the room, give me the once over propped up on the couch and focussed on Edward's hand on my cheek.

I ducked my head down, not wanting to see the expression on her face, had I been human, my cheeks would have been a vibrant red colour.

"There you are Edward," she simpered moving across the room slowly. "I'm going to Seattle for the night with Alice and Rosalie. I need a new wardrobe for school and I left everything back in Alaska. Do you want to come with me?" She asked putting her manicured hand on his shoulder.

Edward looked back at my confused expression, and answered my unasked question.

"Alice knows some people in fashion, it's convenient for us to be able to shop at night sometimes, when daylight doesn't allow it." And without looking away from me he continued, "I don't need anything from the shops Tanya, my old things were kept with the family so I'll stay here."

Tanya's face fell for only a moment before she turned to me. "What about you Bella, it'll be nice for us to get to know one another since we'll be spending so much time together."

I was so shocked by her question I answered without thinking. "Sure."

Tanya and Edward's faces also registered surprise, they obviously thought that I would decline her offer. Had she asked me to make herself look friendly and accommodating in front of Edward? Or was she simply jut a nice person trying to get to know me?

"Great, we're taking Rosalie's car, so come down in two minutes." She schooled her face into a smile as she turned to walk out the door.

"Are you sure you're quite well enough for going out, I mean maybe you should stay here and lie down." Edward was wearing his frowning concern face, one that was all too familiar.

" For the last time I'll be fine Edward, it's sweet that you worry, but really it was a one off thing." I squeezed his hand as I moved to make my way downstairs, but was stopped short as his tightened around mine.

"Just…be safe."

I could see his real concern in his golden eyes, their intensity never failing to make my breath hitch. I found myself without words and nodded.

"I din't want to lose you again, I only just got you back."

"I'm here to stay Edward, besides, what girl doesn't love shopping?" I asked rolling my eyes, wanting to lighten the mood with Tanya in hearing distance.

I was rewarded with a small lopsided grin.

"Any girl who has met Alice I would say."

I grinned back.

"I heard that! Honestly, you think you would be a little more grateful since you'd all be wearing rags if I didn't clothe you."

I met Alice at Rosalie's car, who was already waiting behind the wheel impatiently. I wasn't sure exactly why Rosalie seemed to dislike me, I was not buying into her the jealousy theory, but I had come into her life and upset the natural balance of the family dynamics, so I guess I could forgive her for being a little rude. At any rate I didn't want to ride in the front with her, so I got into the backseat with Alice to wait for Tanya. After listening to Alice chatter away about some designer or another for a few minutes, Rosalie beeped the horn, nearly startling me from my dozing state.

"Hurry up! I don't want to be out all night Tanya, some of us have better things to do than accommodate to your every need!"

My eyebrows rose in surprise at Rosalie's tome. I had assumed that Tanya would be as close to the other family members as they were to each other. But Rosalie seemed to be openly hostile towards her unless this was some kind of personal joke between the two of them. Maybe she wasn't as linked to the family as I had previously thought, as even I was treated with indifference by Rosalie, who hadn't spoken more than two words to me in the entire time I had been here. I wondered if the others were as displeased with her arrival, I knew that they weren't expecting her to come down from Alaska, but as Edward's mate, shouldn't she be more accepted?

Tanya waltzed into the garage and slid into the front seat gracefully. Rosalie peeled out of the garage and started speeding down the long driveway.

Twice Tanya tried talking to Rosalie, but both times was thwarted by the latter turning up the volume on the radio. It was clear Rosalie wanted to get to Seattle as quickly and with as little conversation as possible, which made me wonder if the only reason she had agreed to come was to drive her car without small town speed limits.

The managers of the stores we were visiting nearly fell over themselves trying to accommodate Alice, asking if they could get her refreshments, some coffee, or anything she might have taken a fancy to at one in the morning. It was too bad we couldn't enjoy their generous hospitality, I had the feeling if I asked for a medium rare steak they would have gone out and killed a herd of cows.

Tanya breezed through the stores with ease, finding outfits without even trying the majority on. The ones that she did try on looked so flattering and beautiful, I was sure the only reason she had tried them on was to make me feel even more inferior to her. It was working.

I quickly tired of the stores, and cloths and by the look on Rosalie's face as Tanya dragged us to another store, I wasn't the only one who had seen more of Tanya than I would have ever wanted to.

In probably the eighth store we entered , Tanya was browsing through an isle of raunchy underwear that had my eyebrows rising and my heart sinking. This gorgeous blond e vampire was my competition. How was I meant to go up against this kind of woman and win over Edward when they were already together for who knows how long? And behind her back no less.

Tanya emerged from the change room wearing a matching blood red bra and panties set that left nothing to the imagination, and contrasted beautifully against her pale whit skin. She turned to admire her body in the full length mirror and I looked away. The thought that Edward had probably seen her in less made my stomach churn and my heart clench.

Things were different now-a-days, but when Edward and I had been human, it was considered proper to wait until a couple were married before they made love, and Edward and I were no exception. He had been my first and last and I knew I could never be with anyone in that way ever again. Edward had ruined me for all men and vampires alike. It seemed now though that I had been alone in my celibacy.

As if reading my thoughts Tanya turned to Alice and I who were sitting on the change room chairs, Rosalie had disappeared to god knows where when we had entered the store, and smiled.

"I think Edward will really enjoy this et, but what do you think Bella?"

And just like that I went from feeling sorry for myself to furious in the space of three milliseconds. Just as I was about to unleash a century's worth of hurt and pain on this vampire, Rosalie appeared behind me, raised one perfectly arched brow at Tanya as she looked over her body and scoffed.

"Oh so does that mean Edward has seen you naked yet, besides in your head I mean. Or has he kissed you? Or even held your hand?"

Tanya scowled and a tiny bit of hope rose within me.

"It might seem as though we are not as intimate or as flamboyant in our relationship as you and Emmett, Rosalie, but we're just waiting for the right time." She said defensively.

"Hmmm really? It's been what sixty years? Cause it just seems as though he's just not that into you."

Without replying Tanya glared back at Rosalie and huffed, walking back into the change room to probably try on yet another set of underwear that didn't really cover anything.

In that moment I could have kissed Rosalie, if I didn't think that she would try to take me out afterwards.

I could see Alice smiling at me from the corner of my eyes, but I was too ecstatic in the thought that Edward had not been with Tanya, not only did this mean that I was the only woman he had ever been with but that maybe their relationship wasn't all that steady.

When we were married, Edward had turned into a sexual deviant. He could not get enough of me and said I drove him wild. I had loved the fact that we were so intimate all the time, barely able to keep our hands off of each other. It was no wonder that I had fallen pregnant so quickly.

The fact that he wasn't sleeping with Tanya just made me that more confident that I would be able to win him back. Edward loved sex, or at least he loved sex with me, and that he hadn't even kissed this female incarnation of beauty gave me hope that maybe subconsciously he was still loyal to me.

Rosalie smirked to herself, obviously pleased with making Tanya upset. I wondered what had caused then to be so antagonising towards one another.

"Alright, I'm out of here, Esme said I only had to do this for a few hours, and I've reached my whore limit for the day. I'm going back to Forks, Alice are you coming?" Rosalie asked.

So Esme had bribed her to bring Tanya shopping, probably trying to draw them closer over a common love of fashion, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect.

"Alright, come on Bella, let's go back now, we have to decide what you're going to wear to school tomorrow. Are you coming Tanya, or are you fine to run back?" Alice asked as Tanya stepped out wearing a black corset and stockings.

"You couldn't pay me enough to get into that dump of a car again, I'll be fine here, there's still so much left to buy." She replied not able to tear her eyes

from her own stunning figure.

Rolling her eyes at me, Alice pulled me along behind a muttering Rosalie as we made our way back to the car.

"Dump of a car! What does she know the skank? I completely rebuilt that engine from scratch, this baby is perfect." Rosalie slammed the door a little to hard as I heard something crack and glared daggers at the dashboard before revving the engine and racing out of the car park.

"She makes me so mad, I mean come on, she's not fooling anyone, Edward wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole and she's acting like the biggest whore in the continental U.S." I didn't even think she was talking to us anymore.

Alice sighed looking out the window as Seattle flashed past as we sped down the empty road. "Well you made an effort, so Esme should be pleased about that."

"Come off it Alice, you can't stand it either, none of us can, especially Edward."

"What!?" I burst out, staring at Rosalie with my mouth hanging open, "I mean um, aren't they together? Tanya said that they were mated."

Rosalie snorted and Alice turned around to smile at me, "Bella Edward and Tanya are about as close to being mates as you are to Mike Newton." She registered the shock on my face and smiled again shaking her head.

"Edward attracts a lot of attention wherever we go, from both humans and vampires, it's clear to everyone that all the rest of us are off the market, except for Edward. So Tanya acts as a sort of shield, warding off all the unwanted attention that being single gives Edward. Of course that doesn't stop her from trying to actually get in with Edward, and she thinks that she's been wearing him down over the years, but Edward's just settling with her company, he doesn't love _her, _he's waiting for somebody else."

It took a minute for Alice's words to sink in as she winked and smiled at me again, before I nearly took off the car door as I oped it in haste to get back to the house at all speed.

Ohhh! Who saw that coming? I know a few of you did, especially after the Edward point of view. That was for every Tanya hater out there, and by golly there's a few of you. What will Bella do when she she's Edward again? Kiss him? Kill him? You tell me.

**I turned 18! Finally, it only took me 18 years. If you're feeling generous after this breakthrough chapter leave me a review.**

Ciao Dolly xx 


	17. Chapter 16

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 16

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: I disclaim owning any part of Twilight.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

The road flew away beneath my feet as I raced back towards Forks and to Edward. A single Edward, that wasn't involved with a certain blonde vampire that made my skin crawl.

I could hear Alice ask Rosalie a question as I left the car far behind me. "Do you think we should have clarified sooner?"

And Rosalie reply muttering, "Crazy vampire."

But I was beyond caring what Rosalie thought of me. I was ecstatic. Edward didn't love Tanya, from what I'd just been told he didn't even like her that much. Now that I thought about it, he hadn't even mentioned her once while we were in the meadow and he certainly didn't act like the other mated male vampires in the house with Tanya, who were unable to be without their other halves for long periods of time, without going a little bit crazy.

I pushed myself faster and faster, channeling all my joy relief and hope into getting there faster before I realized I could jump there. Closing my eyes, I visualized my new room in the house and heard rather than felt that I had moved.

The sound of the cars on the motorway disappeared and was replaced by the soft strains of a piano several floors below me. I had never been more grateful for my encounter with the nomadic vampire in Chicago who possessed this particular gift, than I was right now.

I couldn't get down the stairs fast enough, I knew without a doubt that it was Edward playing the piano. He had always poured his heart and soul into his playing and this hauntingly beautiful tune was no exception. I had been denied the privilege of hearing him play for far too long now, and hearing this new unfamiliar song made my heart swell within my chest.

As I stepped down onto the landing, I was pulled up short by the sight of Edward, hunched over his piano, eyebrows furrowed as his fingers poured seamlessly over the keys, eliciting a clear flowing melody from the instrument. He was always like this when he was composing, intense and beautiful. Edward expressed his emotions through his songs, and listening to his music had always made me feel so intimately acquainted with his thoughts and feelings. It was like a window into his beautiful soul, one I had felt privileged to witness.

But right now, Edward was unhappy, to say the least. This song was slow and mournful, filled with longing and loneliness. I wanted to erase from his life whatever had made him feel so desolate and alone. Listening to him play was like a mirror of my own feelings from the past century, his music was able to express just what I had not been able say to Alice, to demonstrate the depth of my despair for what I had lost.

Was this how Edward had felt while we were separated? Had Edward suffered as I had all this time, missing and longing for something but not knowing what?

But even as I listened to him play, the song begun to change, the melancholy notes starting to transform into something lighter, filled with hope and joy, the crease in between Edward's eyebrows smoothed away and he smiled to himself.

His song reminded me of coming home, of the feeling of knowing I wasn't alone in the world.

I crossed the room and came to a stop behind him, letting his music surround me. I could only wonder at what had made Edward feel this way, but I hoped, not that I would admit it, that it had something to do with me.

I hadn't been behind Edward long, before he stiffened and turned, his fingers trailing off the keys.

"Bella." He breathed out smiling up at me.

"Don't stop. Please." I all but begged.

He looked at my face, studying me for some time, looking for something, before he smiled again and patted the spot next to him on the piano bench.

I nearly knocked it over in my attempt to sit down quickly.

"What would you like me to play?"

Did he remember any of the songs he had composed when he was human? It would hardly be fair of me to ask at any rate.

"Anything."

Edward paused for a second, before placing his hands delicately back on the keys. As the first few notes hit my ears, my eyes closed and my breath caught.

He was playing my lullaby.

He remembered my lullaby. If this wasn't a sign that we were meant to be together, then I didn't know what was. I found myself leaning towards his body till my head came to rest on his shoulder as the song trailed to an end.

It had been far too long since I had heard my lullaby and a sigh escaped my lips wishing I could hear it again, before I felt Edward's hand on my cheek.

I opened my eyes as he slowly pulled my face around to face his. I bit my lip and looked up at him through my eyelashes, stunned by the intense look on his face. He looked torn, undecided, but underneath that I could see something that made my stomach tighten.

Lust. For me.

Edward wanted me.

His smoldering eyes flickered between my eyes and then down to my lips, and back again. All the while inching closer to me. My body gravitated towards his, and I pleaded with my eyes for him to kiss me. To claim me. To make me his again.

He exhaled sharply, his cool breath sweeping across my face, dazzling me.

My emotions were going crazy, changing so rapidly I couldn't even name them. Excitement, lust, nervousness, relief, love, happiness, completion.

My eyes were fluttered shut as our noses gently bumped into each other, before Edward rubbed his along the length of mine.

I could almost taste him his lips were right there in front of me. Edward was breathing fast in short shallow breaths, if he had been human he probably would have fainted from the lack of oxygen. My tongue darted out to wet my lips and his hand tightened on my cheek, closing the small distance between us.

Finally, finally after nearly a century we would be together again.

Slam!

The front door burst open and we sprung apart to sit on opposite ends of the piano stool, looking away from each other. Tanya barged into the room carrying what must have been dozens of bags, followed by Alice and Rosalie carrying even more bags. Alice shot me an apologetic grimace and mouthed to me. 'I tried to stall her.' She jerked her head in the direction of the stairs and gave me a pointed look. Clearly I had some explaining to do.

Maybe it was for the best right now. I needed to move slowly when it came to Edward, not jump him on his piano.

_Although, it wouldn't be the first time._

Thank the lord I can't blush anymore, I thought as Tanya sashays over to the piano, dumping her shopping bags on the couch.

"I'm back Eddie! You should have come with me, I missed you!" Tanya said as she squeezed her way onto the piano bench, practically pushing me off the end.

Rolling my eyes at Alice I walked over to her, not missing the fact that Edward had ignored Tanya and her babbling.

Alice started to lead me up the stairs after Rosalie, but not before I shot a shy smile in Edward's direction, to find him staring at me, and to give a small smile in return.

"And Bella and I got to know each other and bond over shopping, it was so much fun Eddie, and you would have loved all the underwear I picked out." Tanya giggled.

I saw red, Alice's arms suddenly closed around me as I fought to go back down the stairs and tear Tanya's head from her body. I growled deep in my throat and gave up fighting her, letting her pull me up the stairs and into her room.

Jasper was sitting at a beautiful wooden desk reading a book, but one look from Alice had him sighing and clearing out of the room, kissing his wife on the forehead before closing the door behind him.

"Trust me Bella," Alice said sitting down at the previously occupied desk, "That would have gone much worse if you were down there."

I was still fuming, but I was thinking clearly enough to acknowledge that ripping off the family friends head might not be the best move in securing Edward's affections, no matter how much she might annoy him.

"Don't worry Bella, today is going to be a good day, I can feel it." Alice crossed the room and rubbed my arm in what should have been a calming gesture, but I was too wound up to be calmed.

"It's school Alice, how is it going to be a good day?" I complained.

"Wait and see Bella, wait and see." She laughed evilly.

"You scare me sometimes Alice."

**Late. And Short. I know, I know! But it's only short because I wanted to get this out quickly. And there's a super long chapter next time, well super long for me anyway. Review makes me write super duper fast.**

**Dolly xx**


	18. Chapter 17

Waiting on some Beautiful Boy Chapter 17

**Summary: Bella and Edward married in 1917. In 1918 Edward is saved by Carlisle, and forgets Bella existed. Today the Cullens return to Forks and to a certain brown haired vampire, but is it too late?**

**Disclaimer: No Twilight for me.**

**Present Day Forks, Washington**

**BPOV**

Alice had promised that today would be a good day, and who was I to doubt the psychic?

We had needed to take two cars to school today and Alice had seen it as an opportunity to separate Tanya from Edward, not that I was complaining. Claiming that she needed fashion advice on the new boots coming out this season, Alice all but forced Tanya into the car with the rest of the family, leaving Edward and I standing by his silver Volvo that had been driven down from Alaska.

Always the gentleman, even a century after it was expected, Edward opened the passenger's door for me, before taking off for school at an alarming speed. Speed delinquents, all of them. I wished that he wouldn't drive so fast so that we could spend some more time together alone, without his family hovering over us, or Tanya literally shoving me away from him the second I got too close.

We hadn't spoken since the almost kiss. And I wanted desperately to know what he was thinking. Was he regretting even trying to kiss me? Was he glad that we had been interrupted? Or did he want me just as I wanted him?

Looking back I could see that it had probably been for the best. Before Edward and I could be together again, we needed to talk. But I was scared. If I just blurted it all out at once, who was to say he wouldn't run? I came with a lot of baggage, once he found out everything, about the marriage, about the baby, he might decide that he didn't want anything to do with me.

Could I risk that? I'd only just found him again, I didn't want to scare him off. I figured that if became his friend first, got him trust me, then I could tell him and we'd have some chance of being together again.

If I just kissed him now and didn't tell him the truth, would he be mad at me for keeping it from him?

Argh, so many questions, and the only one who could answer them was Edward.

As if sensing my internal dilemma, Edward fiddled with the controls on the car for a second and then Debussy's music filled the car. "You looked tense, and well classical music always calms me down."

At least that part of Edward hadn't changed, and I told him as much.

"I thought you'd be so different, being a vampire, but you just keep surprising me Edward, you're so much like your old self."

"And that's a good thing?" Edward looked over at me, eyebrows furrowed, but the car never swerved from the centre of the lane. "I mean, was I a good person?"

He looked so innocent, so confused as he asked, as though I was going to tell him that he'd been a mass murderer as a human.

"You were the best person I knew, that I still know." I laid my hand over his on the gearstick, squeezing it gently.

He looked back to the road, his face now stormy. "I'm not such a good person as you think Bella, I've done things that I'm not proud of."

I couldn't believe that Edward was anything less than the wonderful man I married. And I hadn't been such a wonderful person over the years myself.

"There's nothing that you could tell me Edward that would make me think any less of you, nobody is perfect, I know I certainly am not, and whatever you've done, I will always be on your side, know that."

Edward looked at me skeptically before he hardened. "I've killed people Bella, killed them for their blood, drained them dry. And not just one Bella, hundreds. All of them dead. Because of me."

I sighed, over the past few days I had been wondering about that, whether or not he had drunk human blood before turning 'vegetarian'. It didn't matter to me, he would always be my Edward, and I would always be here for him, if he let me.

"You're not the only one Edward, drinking from humans, it's normal for what we are now. That you had the willpower to stop, and that you continue to refrain from killing, not to mention that you surround yourself on a daily basis with humans that you leave alive, unharmed, speaks volumes for the kind of person you are. That you could stop, once you'd started tells me that you're a better person than you're giving yourself credit for."

Edward's shoulders slumped over the wheel and he looked upset but also relieved. Did he really think I wouldn't understand? I had witnessed first hand how hard it was to resist the lure of human blood, that he could give that up and live amongst them just made me love him that much more.

"I thought I was helping you know? Upholding the law, only going after the bad guys, the murderers, rapists, the filth of humanity. But it was too much Bella, too much blood on my hands. How can you look at me? I must be a shadow of my former self. I'm a monster."

I couldn't take this, his self-loathing, I knew I needed to put a stop to it now, before he spiralled down too far.

"Pull over." I commanded.

"What?"

"Pull over right now Edward."

He complied while sighing and looking down dejectedly at his lap as if he had anticipated this. As soon as the car ground to a halt, I was out of the car and pulling his door open, kneeling down on the wet ground.

"Your not a monster, you're beautiful, on the inside and out. And I will never leave you, no matter what happens." I grabbed his hand and pressed an open mouthed kiss on it. I couldn't help myself, I knew that I shouldn't be doing this but I could never stand to see Edward upset. And he tasted so good. The same, and yet different. Our eyes locked and he gasped, his mouth wide open, clearly shocked by my actions. I pressed several more kisses to his hand, all the while looking him in the eyes.

"No blood, there's no blood on these hands Edward. Their perfect."

He nodded his head, probably too shocked to even say anything. I realised that my position might have been making him uncomfortable. I quickly got to my feet and rounded the car, returning to my seat.

Edward started the car, staring straight ahead. I looked out the window and sighed. I had probably just made things a thousand times worse, what had I been thinking?

_Way to scare him off Bella. Really taking it slow._

My miserable inner thoughts were interrupted by Edward clearing his throat. I looked over at him expectantly.

"Thank you Bella, you have no idea how much that meant to me. I don't know what I did to deserve you, you're too good to me." His face broke out into a dazzling smile that I couldn't help but return.

_Please, he was the prize in this scenario, not me._

But I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty as we pulled into the student car park of the high school, Edward had confessed his secrets to me, but it would be some time before I could open up to him in return.

Parking next to Rosalie's car, I could see as well as hear, that we were the focus of the school's gossip again, it would take sometime before the novelty of us would wear off and people would start ignoring us.

Despite Edward's speeding we had still arrived slightly later than the others, and I could see Tanya and Rosalie's impatience at having to wait for us. Something that had been explained to me the last time we were here, is that the Cullen's banded together, not leaving one person to have to deal with the onslaught of attention by themselves. Safety in numbers and all that.

I sighed as I exited the car, now I had to share Edward with hundreds of students, when I wanted him just to be mine for a little longer.

"Hey Bella," Emmett nudged me in the shoulder. "Why are your jeans dirty and wet huh? Been kneeling down on the ground? Getting down and dirty with it Bella? Is that why you guys took so long?" He winked at me. I glared at him and a growl rose in my throat as Tanya's head whipped around and glared daggers into me knees.

"Shut up Emmett, don't be so crude." Edward walked up beside me, looking faintly embarrassed, which was not particularly helping our case. Rosalie just rolled her eyes at her husband's antics.

The bell for class rung as Tanya sauntered over to Edward. "Come on Eddie, we should go and get our schedules, I want to make sure we're in all the same classes."

Edward rolled his eyes at her. "Tanya, my name is Edward, maybe you could use it, and Alice has already organised our schedules, haven't you Alice?" he looked at her pleadingly.

Tanya looked at her suspiciously, "Are Eddie and I together in our classes?"

Alice smirked, "Don't worry Tanya, I took care of it." Edward and Alice shared a look, and Edward smirked back at her.

The first part of the day passed quickly, Alice had arranged it so that I shared most of my classes with Edward, and listening and watching him in class was fantastic. He was so intelligent, he had always been smart as a human but after all this time, I found that there wasn't much that he didn't know, and I found myself showing off just a bit, trying to impress him.

The depth in which he discussed Shakespeare in English stunned me and his Spanish was fluent, Mathematics was a breeze for him, and he passed through all his classes with ease, leaving behind stunned teachers and pupils alike. He really was too good to be true.

But then it was lunchtime, a chore no one really enjoyed. After purchasing the terrible smelling food, Alice Edward and I sat with the others. I could see Mike Newton scurrying past our table, trying desperately not be seen and Lauren and Jessica sitting at a table with their friends, shooting dirty looks my face and lust filled ones at the guys. It would have been comical if it wasn't so sad.

Poor Jasper sat there in silence just staring at his tray, feeling all the lust pouring off the human's bodies, but the one I really felt sorry for was Edward.

He had told me during the day, that the worst part of it was hearing the disgusting thoughts of the males and females regarding his family. Several times during the day, his fists had tightened and he would glare at a particular individual until the looked away.

Tanya was no help in shifting the attention off the Cullens, she all but encouraged the boys to fawn over her, smiling and waving, giggling and winking. At least I knew I wasn't the only one she made sick.

As she blew a kiss to a tall geeky looking kid, named Eric in our year, the others at the table all exchanged meaningful looks and sighed. Rosalie looked as though she would have liked to kick Tanya. Maybe we could bond over our mutual hatred of the vampire.

"So anyway," Tanya brought me out of my reverie, "I spoke to Irina and she said that she was thinking she and Kate could come and visit us soon. Wouldn't that be great Eddy?" She asked leaning over the table to Edward who sat opposite her, giving him an eyeful of her large cleavage. He looked away looking slightly nauseous as he answered.

"It's Edward Tanya, and your sisters are always welcome in our home." This welcoming gesture was slightly ruined as Rosalie snorted. Tanya turned to glare at Rosalie and opened her mouth to make some remark, but I cut in, wanting to be spared the drama.

"So tell me about Alaska Tanya, what's your family like?" She immediately set off talking about her family, all the fun she had there, the great hunting variety, and all the cute boys that were there for the taking. If I had had any respect for her before this, it would have been long gone after listening to her go on about herself. It was clear that she cared only for herself, talking about people and places as though they were her possessions. She had to be one of the most self absorbed people I knew.

I stretched in my chair, staying still too long made the humans suspicious, so every now and again, I'd cross my legs or cover my mouth in a fake yawn, but this time my foot bumped into Edward's under the table. He looked at me, raising one eyebrow, and I shrugged. I went back to pretending to eat my lunch and just as I was about to take a fake bite of pizza, I felt a foot tap mine.

So he wanted to play did he? Well I wouldn't be the one to walk away. And then it turned into an all out foot battle, limited by the humans around us. At one point our legs were so intertwined that if we had been facing each other, our crotches would have been pressed together, a thought that had me internally blushing, something that had been happening a lot lately.

"Earth to Bella?"

"Huh, what?" I looked back at Tanya, my feet stopping on top of Edward's.

Tanya heaved a sigh, rolling her eyes. "I asked what you were doing before you came to Forks. Were you like, with some other coven? Oh my god! Did you have a mate?"

"Oh well I was just, by myself. I mean I…" I trailed off thinking about how lonely I had been before the Cullens, and Edward. I didn't want Tanya to know about my life, it had been hard enough experiencing it the first time, but talking about it with the woman who had spend so much of her time with my Edward, being happy with him, wasn't going to happen.

"I was alone, mostly living in Chicago. I ah, had I a little house there, right next to a park."

I was suddenly very conscious of everyone's eyes on me, some looking at me with pity, curiosity and others boredom.

"Well doesn't that sound, charming." Tanya scoffed. "Anyway, I was thinking that when…"

But by that point I had tuned her out. I was quickly discovering that the most efficient way to get through the day without murdering someone, was to drown out Tanya's voice and go to my happy place, which was basically anywhere with Edward, just as long as there was no Tanya following behind him.

Edward reached his hand over and placed it over mine on the table, squeezing it gently. "You'll never have to be alone again Bella."

Looking into his eyes I could tell that he meant it, that he would never leave me. But it was more than that.

The entire Cullen family had accepted me into their home, and into their hearts. Looking round the table at these fellow vampires made me realise that I had a family again, someone to belong to. For the first time in a century it wasn't just me on my own. I had people on whom I could depend, to talk to. It was such a comforting feeling, not being alone anymore.

It was a feeling I could become dangerously used to. What if Edward wanted nothing to do with me when I told him the truth? How could I bear it a second time if I lost him? And I would lose the Cullens as well, they had been his family first, of course they would take his side.

The bell ringing brought me out of my inner misery, and back to Edward who was looking at me worriedly. "I wish I knew what you were thinking, I never want you to be sad."

I smiled at him, there was the Edward I knew and loved. I pulled on his hand, and led him to Biology, Tanya's complaints about her schedule fading behind us.

I was looking forward to this lesson, or rather I was looking forward to spending the time alone with Edward. Well as alone as you could be in a classroom of gawking teenagers.

As if they had read my mind, Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley walked into the classroom and seated themselves behind Edward and I. Normally I would have protested about having a science partner, the humans had always just slowed me down, but I knew Edward was more than capable of keeping up with me. He was a genius after all.

"How many kids do you think the Cullens have adopted? The just keep showing up." Jessica whispered to Mike behind us, too low for other humans to hear, but no strain for our superior hearing.

"Ha, who knows? But I think it's weird that they're all together you know? I mean, isn't that kind of like incest?" Mike whispered back.

"You don't think those two are together do you?" Asked Jessica, sounding faintly upset by the idea.

I couldn't help but glance at Edward, to see what he thought about the idea of us being together as a couple, even if the idea was proposed by idiots. But his face unfortunately gave nothing away.

"I don't know, I thought he was with the blonde one, you know the other new one, well, newer." Mike seemed equally put out by the idea, it was clear he was not oblivious to Tanya's many charms. Edward stiffened in his chair and winced before catching my look and subtly tapped the side of his head.

I gave a mini shudder, not wanting to be inside the head of the horny teenage boy just feet from us.

"Well I'm going to go and introduce myself anyway, I want to meet him." Jessica announced slightly louder than she intended and stood up from her chair.

Where was this teacher? Shouldn't the class have started by now? This wasn't going to be pleasant, I could just tell, for everyone involved.

Jessica attempted what looked like a sashay over to our desk and Edward cringed back in his chair before sitting up straight and frowning at the approaching girl fiercely.

The poor girl's heart was starting to accelerate and she seemed to be talking herself into making the final steps, before she caught sight of Edward's face glaring at her, clearly indicating that her presence was not wanted.

But she seemed nothing if not determined and the blood drained from her face and her breathing picked up as she finally made the distance between the desks. She cleared her throat nervously, but seemed to shrink back into herself as Edward doubled his death glare. I couldn't help but be amused by this annoying female. Did she actually think she stood a chance with Edward?

"Hi," she squeaked out, her voice unnaturally high, "I'm, er … I'm, Jessica." I could practically feel the waves of hostility radiating off Edward and I covered my mouth with my hand to hide the smirk that was forming. I'd never seen Edward react like this before. When we were human, he had always tried to let his admirers down easily, not wanting to hurt their feelings, and behaving in a gentlemanly fashion.

Perhaps these girls didn't realise that no meant no with Edward. Evidently Jessica seemed to think so. She was carrying on bravely, despite Edward's lack of response.

"I um, just wanted to… welcome you, to our school…?" The last part sounding like a question as she trailed off, like she was desperately seeking his approval.

I could hear some of the other humans snickering to themselves at her public humiliation, and I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her, but only a little.

She seemed as though she was frozen to the spot, unable to run away, staring at Edward until he looked away, signalling his disinterest.

"All right, all right everybody to their seats. We've got a big lesson planned for today." The teacher finally came into the classroom, and the mortified Jessica scrambled to her seat and put her head down on the table.

"The person sitting next to you is now your science partner for the project we will be starting today. Now I want you to take a sheet and pass it on…"

"Well I guess that means we're partners then partner." I looked over to find Edward's face bent down next to mine, our noses just inches away from each other.

"I guess so, I hope the project isn't to difficult for you to manage, partner." I teased looking away from his mesmerising eyes.

_Don't kiss him, don't kiss him. _I chanted in my head, while I screwed my eyes shut, thinking of fatal car accidents to get rid of the image of Edward hovering over me out of my head.

"I'm sure between the two of us, we can work out anything that's really hard." Edward smirked at me as I gaped like a fish, my jaw dropping open.

_He did not just say that to me. _Oh my Lord he did_. _Maybe he wasn't implying what I thought he was. He was probably just talking about the schoolwork. That's it, just the schoolwork.

Then he winked at me causally. _Oh my Lord! Don't kiss him! Don't kiss him! Remember why you can't. _

Right, I couldn't kiss Edward now, or throw him down on the table and have my wicked way with him in front of the whole class because we hadn't talked yet. He still didn't know the truth.

_Well bloody tell him now you fool, he's flirting with you!_

No! Be strong Bella. I could do this, I wouldn't let Edward see how easily he affected me. I took the sheets off the girl in front of me, Angela I think her name was, took two for Edward and I and passed them over my shoulder to Mike without looking. As soon as he took them from my hand, they fell out of his grasp, his hands shaking too badly even to hold them. More sniggers from the class. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so hard on Edward about his approach to Jessica, mine had hardly been any better the week before.

Edward and I breezed through the first part of our biology project, some of the class however, were finding it quite the challenge, resorting to cheating and consulting their textbooks for the answers.

With the work set out for today's lesson complete, we were allowed to talk quietly amongst ourselves.

"Bella, may I ask you something?" Edward looked torn as he turned to face me.

Oh God, what was he going to ask? Had he remembered something about our previous life?

"Uh, sure Edward, ask away." I managed to stammer out.

"There's something that's been on my mind Bella, ever since you told me that we were in Chicago together before I was turned." Edward frowned down at the desk. Here it was, the 'I'm not sure if I want us to be friends anymore speech'._ I shouldn't have kissed his hand in the car, that was way to clingy Isabella! _Way too strong, way too fast. Oh God.

"I keep going over it in my head, but there's only one conclusion I that I can come to..." He trailed off, looking lost in his thoughts. Now I really didn't know what he was talking about. What did he mean conclusion?

He took a deep breath. "Was Carlisle the one to turn you into a vampire?"

Oh. Was that all? I was almost positive he could see my relief. "No Edward, it wasn't Carlisle."

Now he was the one to be relieved. "Really? It just seemed, with the timing, and us knowing each other, I mean it just made sense. Although why he would keep it from me, I don't know."

After speaking with Carlisle, I had known for sure that he hadn't been the one to change me. He had reassured me that he wouldn't have turned a pregnant woman, so far along in her pregnancy, and I believed him.

"I don't know who changed me Edward, I didn't see their face when I was bitten. At the time I was delirious with grief, I wasn't thinking straight, I wasn't even aware of what was going on around me. And they were gone by the time my transformation was complete." I hadn't thought to track the scent left behind at the graveyard, and I had never come across it again.

"Why were you grieving?" My shocked eyes met his saddened ones. I hadn't realised that I had let that slip, thank god I hadn't told him I was at the graveyard where he was supposedly buried.

"Well, my parents had just died, and I had lost you, I didn't have anyone else in the world, I was all alone."

But this just made Edward even sadder. "I'm so sorry Bella, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. You've been alone all this time and I've had a family. It just doesn't seem fair. I didn't even have my memories of my human life, I didn't know I was missing out on anything."

I sighed. Here was Edward's need to blame himself for everything. "Edward, we can't change what happened, it's in the past. But we have all of forever stretching out in front of us, all we can do is make the future better, until that time is just a small part of what are lives were."

Edward smiled at me as if the thought of us having a future together made him happy. It did more than make me happy.

The bell rang signalling the end of class and we walked to gym class together.

To say that I was preoccupied in volleyball was an understatement. Along with every other female in the vicinity, watching Edward serve the ball over the net became my first priority for gym class. That sliver of skin that peeked out from under his shirt as he lifted his arm to hit the ball had all the girls and even some of the guys drooling after his chiselled body.

My first reaction to this was to growl at the gawkers and I was seized by a strong desire to rip out their tongues. That was my Edward they were looking at! I had never been this territorial as a human, but all of my suppressed emotions from the past century were boiling to the surface, and if I didn't do something soon, I would be tackling Edward to the gym floor for some very non-sport like activities. _So inappropriate Bella!_

But I couldn't help it. I hadn't been with a man since Edward and that was a _very_ long time ago. And now seeing him again was stirring up some all too familiar feelings which were hardly appropriate for one friend to feel for another. And those gym shorts were certainly not helping matters.

I was noticeably tense as we walked out of the gym.

"Are you alright Bella? Those revolting boys in that class didn't make you feel uncomfortable did they? Seeing the looks they shot at you and Alice was one thing but to hear their disgusting thoughts, it nearly made go over there and teach them some manners." He looked so menacing as he said this that I didn't doubt that there would have been a lot of pain and blood in that lesson of his.

Alice laughed beside me, "Oh she was uncomfortable all right, but not because of the boys, well maybe one of them. Actually he's more of a..." Alice couldn't finish her sentence as she was distracted by my elbow digging into her ribs.

We arrived at the cars to find the others waiting, not so patiently as this morning, if that was possible. Tanya had already stationed herself outside of Edward's passenger seat and she shot me a victorious smile as he unlocked it with a defeated sigh.

With no other choice, besides walking back, I climbed into the front seat with Rosalie the ice queen. I couldn't help but wonder what had made her this way, surely she couldn't have always been so hard. And what did fun-loving Emmett see in her to start with? There had to be more to her than the wall she had put up between us, and I wanted to get to know her better, she was important to Edward after all.

As we sped along back to the house I tried to think of things that we might have in common, that I could talk and get her to open up about, but I was drawing blanks at every corner, besides our mutual dislike of Tanya.

Just as I was giving up as the others chatted in the backseat, we passed a park with a mother and her three children playing on the swings. Without even realising what she was doing Rosalie slowed the car down, and stared at the children with such a fierce sense of longing I could almost feel her desire.

The mother was pushing one of the children on the swing, while the other two took turns pushing each other on the next swing. Then one of the children fell off the swing onto the gravel below her and started to cry. The girl hadn't fell so hard that blood was spilled or any serious damage could be inflicted, but the mother rushed over and swept the child into her arms and immediately began comforting her.

One look at Rosalie told me that she wanted more than anything to be the mother in that park, to have her own children and to be there for them when they fell down. Had Rosalie been a mother too? Had she had to leave her child behind when she was turned? When the child had stopped crying and her wounds were kissed better, Rosalie stiffened and a coldness fell over her face like a cloud over the sun, she accelerated away from the park, taking turns sharply and making the tyres squeal as she raced away from the little human family.

The others continued talking as if nothing had happened, that Rosalie hadn't transformed into a completely different person as soon as she saw the children. They had to know. Jasper was an empath for Christ's sake. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it, maybe it was too hard to talk about the child that she had lost. I could understand that, I knew all too well, the excruciating pain of losing your baby. So much so, I hadn't spoken about him in a century. But maybe now was the time. With someone who could really understand what I had gone through.

Arriving back at the house, I wondered how I could talk to Rosalie about this, before deciding to simply walk up to her and tell her my story. She was blunt like that, maybe she would appreciate my approach.

I knocked on the door to her room and let myself in after receiving no objections or replies. Rosalie was sitting at her dresser staring at her reflection in what had to have been the largest mirror I had ever seen, I couldn't help but marvel that they had gotten it into the room. She hadn't turned around as I entered or given any indication that she recognised my presence in her room, so I made my way over to the luxurious king sized bed and nervously sat down on the edge.

As she brushed her hair, I couldn't help but note that she really was the most beautiful female I had ever seen in all my time, a fact that made my self confidence and my nerves for starting this conversation diminish. But since she didn't seem to want to acknowledge my existence, I figured I would have to be the one to get the ball rolling.

Clearing my throat I looked down at the bed covers, wanting to avoid eye contact in the mirror if she looked at me. "Rosalie, I, ah, know we haven't really gotten the chance to know each other all that well, and ah what I meant to say was... I mean today at the park I saw that you... Have you ever thought about adoption?" I rambled desperately trying to get my mouth to shut up.

But the damage was done, as I glanced up I saw her face turn icy in the reflection and she whirled around to face me.

"What did you say to me?" Her tone made me want to shrink back into myself but I held my ground.

"I know what it's like Rosalie..." I didn't even get to finish.

"You stupid cow! You have no idea what it's like. You have no right to talk to me about children, you don't even know me. You waltz in here, into my home and then think you have the right to tell me that I should just adopt some children! As if the thought had never occurred to me before, how stupid do you think I am? Where do YOU get off telling me you know anything about what I've been through? You know nothing! Your audacity astounds me, how dare you presume to know anything about me or what I want. Now get the fuck out of my room." She towered over me, tall and menacing.

_Well that went well_. She was officially enraged.

"I looked down to my lap and whispered so that only she could hear in case anyone was listening.

"I was seven months pregnant when I was bitten." I pulled in a huge gasp of air and let it out. There, someone else knew, it was out there. My eyes closed tightly and I wanted more than anything to just cry, but my body wouldn't let me. There was silence, Rosalie had said nothing, she hadn't even moved. I sat there and rocked in on myself, a century I had kept that inside of me and now I had revealed it to a vampire I was almost certain hated my guts. Just like telling Alice about Edward, I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders, as though the burden wasn't just mine to bear anymore.

I buried my face in my hands, pushing my eyes with my fingers hard. I didn't want to see Rosalie laugh and tell me she didn't care and then kick me out of her room, I would just sit here and pretend I was somewhere else.

Then I felt two hands cover my own and pry them away from my face. I opened my eyes to find Rosalie crouched down on the floor in front of me as she brought my hands in hers and pressed them to her chest.

"Bella. I am so sorry." And she was, it was written all over her body from her scrunched up beautiful face to her shuddering shoulders. And I wanted to thank her, because getting this off my chest made me feel a little less guilty about losing my baby, about keeping him a secret for all these years.

So I got down on the floor in front of her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders and clung to her. And suddenly we were both crying, well crying as well as our bodies allowed.

Some time later she pulled back from me and bit her lip. "I don't know how you keep going, how you manage to still live your life, I have nothing like the excuse you have, I didn't even have any children."

My look of confusion prompted her to go on.

"All I've ever wanted to be was a mother, babies were what I lived for, it was my life's goal. I lived, breathed and slept babies and I was so close to having one of my own. And then it was taken away from me. I never wanted this life Bella, I just wanted to be a mum, but I've made the most of what I have, I have Emmett, and I love him. But, I don't know if it will ever be enough. You must think I'm a selfish cow." She gave a sad smile and shook her head.

"Never, I didn't choose this life either, and if I could go back and... but I can't, we just have to keep going. Who knows what might happen someday."

We both sat there on the floor, lost in our thoughts until Rosalie turned to me her face serious.

"Bella I know I have no right to ask, but I hope that we can be friends after this, I've treated you appallingly and I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

This was what I had wanted, the chance to be closer to Rosalie and I couldn't help but smile.

"I'd really like that Rosalie, it's nice to have someone to talk to about this."

Her answering smile literally lit up the room she was so radiant.

"Good, because now that we're friends, I have to know. Was the baby Edward's?"

**The longest chapter yet. And the quickest update. Thanks so much to everyone who is reading and enjoying my story, I get way too excited reading your reviews and seeing that you've put me on alerts. Really, it's sad how much I love hearing from you guys. ****I'm torn on whether or not to include any more back story from 1918, so if you would like to read more about Bella and Edward's life together before becoming vampires, let me know.**

**Thanks again **

**Dolly xx**


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